I went shopping in downtown San Francisco, and right across the street from the Louis Vitton and Macy's for Men store in Union Square, I spotted this large planting of yellow Angel Trumpet tree datura's!!!
Brugmansia aka Angels Trumpet
Brugmansia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the
family Solanaceae. Their large, fragrant flowers give them their
common name of angel's trumpets, a name sometimes used for the closely
related genus Datura. Brugmansia are woody trees or shrubs, with
pendulous, not erect, flowers, that have no spines on their fruit.
Datura species are herbaceous bushes with erect (not pendulous)
flowers, and most have spines on their fruit.
Description
Brugmansia are large shrubs or small trees, with semi-woody, often
many-branched trunks. They can reach heights of 3–11 m (10–36 ft). The
leaves are alternately arranged along the stems, generally large,
10–30 cm (4–12 in) long and 4–18 cm (2–7 in) across, with an entire or
coarsely toothed margin, and are often covered with fine hairs. The
name "angel's trumpet" refers to the large, pendulous, trumpet-shaped
flowers, 14–50 cm (6–20 in) long and 10–35 cm (4–14 in) across at the
opening. They come in shades of white, yellow, pink, orange, green, or
red. Most have a strong, pleasing fragrance that is most noticeable in
the evening. Flowers may be single, double, or more.
Distribution and habitat
Brugmansia are native to tropical regions of South America, along the
Andes from Venezuela to northern Chile, and also in south-eastern
Brazil. They are grown as ornamental container plants world-wide, and
have become naturalized in isolated tropical areas around the globe,
including within North America, Africa, Australia, and Asia
Uses
Brugmansia are most often grown today as flowering ornamental plants.
In modern medicine, important alkaloids such as scopolomine,
hyoscyamine, and atropine, found in Brugmansia and other related
members of Solanaceae, have proven medical value for their
spasmolytic, anti-asthmatic, anticholinergic, narcotic and anesthetic
properties, although many of these alkaloids, or their equivalents,
are now artificially synthesized.
Brugmansia have also traditionally been used in many South American
indigenous cultures in medical preparations and as a ritualistic
hallucinogen for divination, to communicate with ancestors, as a
poison in sorcery and black magic, and for prophecy. Medicinally, they
have mostly been used externally as part of a poultice, tincture,
ointment, or where the leaves are directly applied transdermally to
the skin. External uses include the treating of aches and pains,
dermatitis, orchitis, arthritis, rheumatism, headaches, infections,
and as an anti-inflammatory. They have been used internally much more
rarely due to the inherent danger of ingestion. Internal uses, in
highly diluted preparations, and often as a portion of a larger mix,
include treatments for stomach and muscle ailments, as a decongestant,
to induce vomiting, to expel worms and parasites, and as a sedative.
In a concentrated or refined form, derivatives of Brugmansia are also
used for murder, seduction, and robbery
