hah! when I was in San Francisco I kept seeing these beautiful flowers - I'd never seen them before. I'd asked David what they were, but he didn't have an answer. Turns out they're brugmansia.

Either brugmansia or datura, otherwise known as Angel's Trumpet. Hallucinogenic and very poisonous.

Okay, I applied for a balance transfer card, got the ladder from my neighbors, changed a lightbulb, hung up my smoke/CO2 alarm, researched coupon sites, updated my budget software, scooped tub at pans, washed some dishes, and deposited a check. I have earned my alcohol and sushi.

I'd known that datura is dangerous, although I'd never seen it in person. These I'm assuming are the less dangerous brugmansia; my boss, who's an avid gardener, says that their trumpets point down, datura flowers point up.

Yeah, datura is one of those mysterious poisons that seem to show up in mid-century mystery novels.

I grew up thinking datura were ground plants in the desert. Flowers look like that but up. And on a ground plant. But, yes, not a safe thing. And clearly there are different kinds of datura now that I look.

I always pictured datura as looking more like morning glories or bindweed.

As I understand it, the species are hard to tell apart. Both have poisonous alkaloids and I think the brugmansia are the ones used by South American tribes as a hallucinogen. I wouldn't want to snack on either.

Ooh, mystery plants. Who can tell me what this is? [link]

They're full size trees. This pic was taken as the flowers began to wilt some so they're a little droopier and browner but both leaves and flowers do hang down anyway. The smell divine. There's a whole row of them by the park and the three or four weeks when they're in bloom is fantastic.

The things one learns on b.org! Love the afternoon botany lesson, esp as I've sometimes wondered about those flowers myself.