Angel’s Trumpets (Brugmansia suaveolens)

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Picture Notes: On 06/30/2009 I captures a series of pictures (Figs. 01 and 03-05) of some flowering Angle’s Trumpets while walking in the Pitman Wash next to our apartment complex in Henderson, Nevada. They were growing south of the Memorial Park area. Pittman Wash - Summary Page The close-up with the bee clinging to one of the stamens was captured on 06/02/2013 while hiking at Corn Creek inside the Desert National Wildlife Range. I created the collage at the bottom (Fig. 06), from the series of pictures that I captured in the Pitman Wash.

Description: Angel’s Trumpets (Brugmansia suaveolens), a.k.a. Angel's Tears, Maikoa, and White Angel's Trumpet, is a shrub with voluminous tubular flowers. It is most commonly know as Angel's Trumpet due to the large, very dramatic, pendulous trumpet-shaped flowers. This semi-woody shrub or small tree can grow 15 feet tall, usually with a many-branched single trunk. The leaves are generally oval in shape, up to 10 inches long and 6 inches wide, and even larger when grown in the shade. The overall plant has a coarse texture but the flowers are remarkably beautiful. They are sweetly fragrant, about 12 inches long and shaped like trumpets. The corolla has five/six points that are slightly recurved. The flowers are usually white but may be yellow or pink and are pendulous, hanging almost straight down. They have a delicate, attractive scent with light, lemony overtones, most noticeable in early evening. Flowers may be single or double. Angel’s Trumpets are extremely toxic. All parts of Brugmansia plants contain dangerous levels of poison and may be fatal if ingested by humans or animals, including livestock and pets. Contact with the eyes can cause pupil diliation (mydriasis) or unequal pupil size (anisocoria). Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of Brugmansia plants.

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