Dear Preeti j,
There is nothing to get ashamed of and feel you are ignorant. Many members of the group do have a passion for floristic diversity of India but may not know the scientific name or not aware of the botanical aspect of the plants. It is a common aspect of this group that we welcome all people with the vision to respect and love plant. You may be not aware of the botanical name but made the lovely effort to take its photo and post it out in this group where other members can see it and if possible identify it (scientifically). Your as well as contribution from all members are invaluable for us and will help us all to reach our goal to create Eflora of India. Contributions from all members have made this group largest of its kinds in India and probably of the world with 1241 members. Both Brugmansia & Datura are in the same family of Solanaceae. Brugmansia grow into trees, produce brown wood and are perennial in warmer climates. 99% of their flowers point down and are usually called Angels Trumpet. They produce green bean like seed pods. Datura are annual bushes (except in climates with no frost) and do not produce brown wood. Their stems and trunks are almost always green. Their flowers point up and are mistakenly called Angels Trumpet but are actually Devils Trumpet. They produce round; spiky or bumpy seed pods that can literally explode when ripe throwing seeds all over the place if the pod is not well hydrated. Daturas are most easily propagated via seed and come true from seed. Brugmansias do not come true from seed and are very easily propagated via cutting. "Datura is annual bushes (except in climates with no frost) and do not produce brown wood. Their stems and trunks are almost always green." Some varieties have BLACK stems and trunks (very gothic-looking). Datura as a genus has much more variation between species than Brugsmansia. Most Brugsmansia look very alike with the exception of Brugsmansia sanguinea and vulcanicola. Datura species on the other hand have several different growth habits and may be low lying, spreading, or upright with green to purple stems. Several species have hairy stems and leaves especially Datura ferox. The most interesting Datura species I grow is Datura ceratocaula, a semi-aquatic species from Mexico and South America that has an unbranched stem with small leaves only at the apical portion. Datura is a short lived perennial down here, and lives three to four years, and does produce some brown woody trunks and stems. However, they will never get more than about 4 feet tall, no matter how much you feed them. There are some varieties of datura that actually sprawl. *All parts of both are extremely toxic.* The roots, stems, flowers, leaves and seeds contain the chemicals atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine in varying concentrations. If you have toddlers or pets that like to sample plants you must take special care to make sure they cannot come in contact in anyway with either plant. If ingested it could kill them. *When handling either, make it a point not to touch your face, eat or handle food until you have washed your hands.* There have been a few posts in the last few months describing the symptoms of Solanaceae poisoning. If you have ever experienced headaches, confusion or vision problems after working with your Brugmansia or Datura, you have inadvertently poisoned yourself. Most of the time you will not connect the two. I have poisoned myself unknowingly harvesting Datura seeds when I had open cuts on my fingers or neglected to wash my hands right after harvesting the seeds. (Ref: Garden Web) Regards Tanay -- Tanay Bose +91(033) 25550676 (Resi) 9830439691(Mobile) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix?hl=en.
