The Main Plant entry for Angel's Trumpets (Brugmansia)

"Most Brugmansia are fragrant in the evenings to attract pollinating moths. One species lacking scent, the red-flowered Brugmansia sanguinea, is pollinated by long-billed hummingbirds. Brugmansia have two main stages to their life cycle. In the initial vegetative stage the young seedling grows straight up on usually a single stalk, until it reaches its first main fork at 2.6–4.9 feet high. It will not flower until after it has reached this fork, and then only on new growth above the fork. Cuttings taken from the lower vegetative region must also grow to a similar height before flowering, but cuttings from the upper flowering region will often flower at a very low height.

One interesting example of plant/animal interaction involves the butterfly Placidula euryanassa, which uses Brugmansia suaveolens as one of its main larval foods. It has been shown that these can sequester the plant's tropane alkaloids and store them through the pupal stage on to the adult butterfly, where they are then used as a defense mechanism, making themselves less palatable to vertebrate predators.

All parts of Brugmansia are poisonous, with the seeds and leaves being especially dangerous. Brugmansia are rich in Scopolamine (hyoscine), hyoscyamine, and several other tropane alkaloids. Effects of ingestion can include paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion, tachycardia, dry mouth, diarrhea, migraine headaches, visual and auditory hallucinations, mydriasis, rapid onset cycloplegia, and death.

Brugmansia are easily grown in a moist, fertile, well-drained soil, in sun to part shade, in frost-free climates. They begin to flower in mid to late spring in warm climates and continue into the fall, often continuing as late as early winter in warm conditions. In cool winters, outdoor plants need protection from frost, but the roots are hardier, and may resprout in late spring. The species from the higher elevations, in B. section Sphaerocarpium, prefer moderate temperatures and cool nights, and may not flower if temperatures are very hot. Most Brugmansia may be propagated easily by rooting 4–8 inch cuttings taken from the end of a branch during the summer."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

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The current International Cultivar Registration Authority [ICRA] for Brugmansia and Datura is the International Brugmansia and Datura Society.

Home page: http://ibrugs.com/Home.aspx
Cultivar registration guidelines: http://ibrugs.com/CultivarRegi...
Cultivars list: http://ibrugs.com/official-bru...

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