Red Angel's Trumpet

Description:

Also called Mountain Angel’s Trumpet and Scarlet Angel’s Trumpet, Brugmansia sanguinea is a shrub or small tree in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which also includes potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and tobacco among others. This plant can reach 10 meters in height and has trumpet shaped flowers that hang down that can measure up to 20-25 cm. The base of the flower is green progressing to white and yellow towards the bell, which is red or red-orange. The leaves are green with wavy or undulate edges and are over half as long as the blossom (foto #4).

Habitat:

B. sanguinea is endemic to the Andes mountains from Colombia to northern Chile at elevations from 2,000 to 3,000 masl (6,600 to 9,800 ft). This one was seen in a park in the middle of Quito, Ecuador @ 2820 masl. (foto #5).

Notes:

Although all parts of Brugmansia sanguinea are poisonous if ingested, it has been cultivated and used as a psychoactive substances in a spiritual context for shamanic purposes by the South American Indians for centuries http://entheology.com/plants/brugmansia-....