Datura Inoxia
"Devil's Trumpet"
It's another wet, dreary morning and I was looking at our sunny vacation pictures, which already seems like a long time ago. This enormous flower was blooming at the Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm Springs. The delicate-looking, pure white flower basks in the scorching sun without wilting.
I asked the kid at the desk and he told me it was a Datura, commonly known as Devil's Trumpet. Then he snickered something under his breath about not eating the seeds.
From ancient times, Datura was used in shamanistic rituals as a path to enlightenment. To this day, brave and/or stupid people still experiment with it for the hallucinogenic effect, although the results are so unpleasant (dark visions, disorientation, amnesia, blurred eyesight, incontinence, etc.) they seldom repeat the experience. Devil’s Trumpet contains a host of potent psychoactive chemicals and overdose can result in death.
Brugmansia
"Angel's Trumpet"
The Devil's Trumpet is related to the Angel's Trumpet, and this spectacular specimen was grown by our friend Tammy at her home south of Seattle. That's quite a feat, because they don't particularly like our climate or living in pots. How does she keep it from tipping over? Angel trumpet flowers droop modestly down instead of upward, like the brazen Devil's instrument.
Angel or devil, the hallucinogenic effects are equally terrifying. The author Christina Pratt, in An Encyclopedia of Shamanism, says that "Brugmansia induces a powerful trance with violent and unpleasant effects, sickening after-effects, and at times temporary insanity including a complete disconnection from reality."
Pretty to look at...
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