Genus: Brugmansia Common Name: Angels Trumpet
Family: Solanaceae
Appearance: Shrubs or small trees with large green leaves usually of umbrella shape.
Flowers: Drooping trumpet (cone) shaped large flowers, between 15 and 50 cm long. Variable in colour and form.
Features: Most species scented at night, some varieties have narcotic properties (and can be poisonous). Visually attractive when grown as an untrimmed hedge.
Requirements: requires well drained fertile soils. Branches are brittle and break in the wind. Mostly tropical and subtropical plants sensitive to frost.
Culture: Propagate by seed or cuttings, can be transplanted. Pruning used to control plant height. apply a general fertiliser every 4 months.
Pest & Disease: Chinese rose beetles, grasshoppers - use Carbaryl. Spider mites - use wettable sulphur or miticide.
Species & Varieties:
(Sometimes confused with Datura. Brumgansia fruit is a berry, Datura fruit is a capsule) Approximately 10 species recorded (but the figure may be disputed amongst authorities), including:
B. arborea -White flowers, ranges in height from 2-5m.
B. sanguinea -Deep pink forms, also available in yellow, orange and yellow-green.
B. suaveolens -To 7m, 30cm long leaves, white flowers through spring and summer.
B. versicolor (syn. D. mollis) -To 4m, pale pink flowers.
B. x candida (syn. B. knightii, Datura x candida)) -To 6m with cream to white flowers and downy leaves.