© Claus Ableiter · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Brugmansia
Toxic🐾Engelstrompeten · (Brugmansia arborea)
Nightshade family (Solanaceae)
Description
Angel's trumpet bears funnel-shaped flowers up to 25 centimetres long that release a heavy, sweet scent in the evening and at night, usually hanging straight down — a popular container shrub originally from the South American Andes. As beautiful as it is dangerous: every part of the plant is extremely poisonous. It contains tropane alkaloids, above all scopolamine, alongside hyoscyamine and atropine, with a markedly higher scopolamine share than its relative jimsonweed. In the healing tradition of northern Peruvian curanderos and in Colombia and Ecuador, leaves and flowers played a ritual role; externally, crushed or warmed leaves were applied as compresses for rheumatism and joint or muscle pain. There is no safe household use — even small amounts can cause severe poisoning.
🌿 Risk of confusion — read before wild-harvesting!
Frequent fatal poisonings among teenagers seeking intoxication (1994 Florida outbreak: 112 hospitalisations).
External use only!
This plant must NOT be taken internally. Use only as compress, salve, or bath.
CONTRAINDICATED during pregnancy
Tropane alkaloids (scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atropine) cross the placental barrier and can cause fetal tachycardia, CNS damage and congenital malformations. Any exposure during pregnancy is strictly contraindicated — including via skin contact and inhalation.
CONTRAINDICATED during breastfeeding
Scopolamine and atropine pass into breast milk and can trigger anticholinergic effects in the infant (tachycardia, dry mouth, fever, sedation, seizures). Breastfeeding: strictly contraindicated.
CONTRAINDICATED for children
Children are extremely sensitive to tropane alkaloids; a few seeds or a piece of flower can be fatal. Angel's trumpets in households with small children or pets are a documented poisoning risk. No use in children and adolescents under 18 years — not even low homeopathic potencies below D6.
Critical drug interactions with:
Anticholinergika (Tiotropium, Ipratropium, Oxybutynin, Darifenacin, Scopolamin-Pflaster) · Trizyklische Antidepressiva (Amitriptylin, Imipramin, Clomipramin) · MAO-Hemmer (Phenelzin, Tranylcypromin, Moclobemid, Selegilin)
Traditional external use in South America: crushed or heated angel's trumpet leaves are applied in folk medicine as poultices for rheumatism, arthritis, muscle pain, bruises and skin inflammation. Local anticholinergic action of tropane alkaloids superficially reduces pain and spasm. Important: tropane alkaloids are absorbed through the skin — systemic poisonings have been described. No lay use.
Preparation & dosage
Historical documentation only — do NOT use
These internal applications are historically documented. This plant is highly toxic — self-treatment can cause severe poisoning or death. For documentation only, explicitly NOT a recommendation.
Shamanic and divinatory use in the folk medicine of the northern Peruvian Andes (curandero tradition): Brugmansia arborea and related species ('floripondio', 'misha', 'borrachero') have been used since pre-Columbian times for initiation rituals, vision quests and healing ceremonies. De Feo (2004) documents use in combination with Trichocereus pachanoi (San Pedro cactus) in mesa rituals. Mechanism: central anticholinergic delirium triggered by scopolamine. No recommendation for application — poisonings are frequent, hallucinations are described as 'terrifying'.
Preparation & dosage
Historical use of flowers in Colombian and Ecuadorian healing traditions ('borrachero blanco'). Healers dried and crushed flowers for ritual fumigation or administered them as cold infusions to induce trance and vision states — historically tied to legends about theft and witchcraft (Robles myth, Colombia). Modern documented: criminal use of concentrated scopolamine extracts ('Devil's Breath') against tourists in Bogotá — no therapeutic role.
Preparation & dosage
Homeopathic use (Brugmansia D6–D12) for night terrors, hallucinatory states, nightmares and sleep disorders with persecution imagery — analogous to the Datura indication in classical homeopathy. From D12 onward no pharmacologically active alkaloid amounts remain. Lower potencies (below D6) are not freely available in Germany.
Preparation & dosage
Purely ethnobotanical/historical documentation of seed use in pre-Columbian Inca/Chibcha burial rituals: angel's trumpet seeds were mixed with maize beer and tobacco and given to wives and slaves of the deceased before they were buried alive (according to 16th-century Spanish chroniclers). Today no application recommendation — seeds contain the highest scopolamine concentration and are potentially lethal in tiny amounts.
Preparation & dosage
Historical asthma fumigations with angel's trumpet leaves: before asthma was recognised as allergic inflammation, Brugmansia leaves (along with Datura and Hyoscyamus leaves) were burned and inhaled as 'anti-asthma powders' or 'stramonium cigarettes' — anticholinergic bronchodilation via atropine/scopolamine. Completely obsolete since the introduction of β2-sympathomimetics and inhaled corticosteroids; rejected due to toxicity and hallucinogenic effects.
Preparation & dosage
⚠ External use only
EXTREMELY TOXIC — ALL PLANT PARTS. Brugmansia arborea contains tropane alkaloids (scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atropine) with a markedly higher scopolamine ratio than Datura stramonium (scopolamine dominates, strongly sedating and hallucinogenic, efficiently crosses the blood-brain barrier). Concentration varies extremely with season, plant part and hydration — reliable dosing is impossible. Lethal adult scopolamine dose: ca. 2–4 mg (oral); even pollen samples and Brugmansia honey are toxic. Symptoms (anticholinergic syndrome): dry mouth, tachycardia, mydriasis, photophobia, hyperthermia, urinary retention, vivid and terrifying hallucinations, delirium, bizarre and dangerous behaviour (documented case of self-amputation), seizures, coma. Poisonings last 24–48 h, in individual cases up to two weeks. Even the plant's scent in enclosed rooms can trigger symptoms — never place in a bedroom. Frequent fatal poisonings among teenagers seeking intoxication (1994 Florida outbreak: 112 hospitalisations). On suspicion: IMMEDIATELY call emergency services and poison control. No self-medication. No lay use.
Tropane alkaloids (scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atropine) cross the placental barrier and can cause fetal tachycardia, CNS damage and congenital malformations. Any exposure during pregnancy is strictly contraindicated — including via skin contact and inhalation.
Scopolamine and atropine pass into breast milk and can trigger anticholinergic effects in the infant (tachycardia, dry mouth, fever, sedation, seizures). Breastfeeding: strictly contraindicated.
Children are extremely sensitive to tropane alkaloids; a few seeds or a piece of flower can be fatal. Angel's trumpets in households with small children or pets are a documented poisoning risk. No use in children and adolescents under 18 years — not even low homeopathic potencies below D6.
Drug interactions
Anticholinergika (Tiotropium, Ipratropium, Oxybutynin, Darifenacin, Scopolamin-Pflaster)
Additive anticholinergic effect with the plant's tropane alkaloids: enhanced dry mouth, urinary retention, tachycardia, cognitive impairment up to central anticholinergic syndrome with delirium and seizures.
Trizyklische Antidepressiva (Amitriptylin, Imipramin, Clomipramin)
Tricyclics have inherent anticholinergic properties; combination with Brugmansia alkaloids substantially potentiates anticholinergic side effects.
MAO-Hemmer (Phenelzin, Tranylcypromin, Moclobemid, Selegilin)
MAO inhibitors may reduce breakdown of tropane alkaloids and potentiate their toxicity; CNS excitation with hallucinations and hypertensive crisis possible.
Antihistaminika der 1. Generation (Diphenhydramin, Promethazin, Hydroxyzin)
First-generation H1 antihistamines have anticholinergic properties; additive effects with Brugmansia alkaloids — risk of sedation, confusion, falls and hyperthermia.
Neuroleptika mit anticholinerger Komponente (Clozapin, Olanzapin, Chlorpromazin)
Inherent anticholinergic action of neuroleptics adds to tropane alkaloids; risk of hyperthermia, ileus, cognitive deterioration.
Opioid-Analgetika (Morphin, Fentanyl, Oxycodon)
Additive CNS depression and anticholinergic effects (constipation, urinary retention, sedation); experimentally described influence of Brugmansia tropane alkaloids on opioid withdrawal (Capasso & De Feo 2003) — interactions therefore pharmacologically plausible and clinically unpredictable.
Contraindications
- Narrow-angle glaucoma — scopolamine/atropine dangerously increase intraocular pressure
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia with voiding disorders — anticholinergic urinary retention
- Tachyarrhythmias and atrial fibrillation — tropane alkaloids further increase heart rate
- Mechanical ileus, megacolon, pyloric stenosis — intestinal paralysis through anticholinergics
- Myasthenia gravis — antagonisation of neuromuscular transmission
- Dementia and pre-existing cognitive impairment — risk of central anticholinergic syndrome
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children and adolescents (see above)
- Households with children or pets — even purely ornamental cultivation (poisoning risk via flower scent and plant contact)
Harvested part: all plant parts, especially flowers and seeds
- Time of day:
- Morning hours after dew has dried during peak growth — due to extreme concentration variability exclusively for pharmaceutical research or supervised ritual tradition, never for lay use.
- Drying:
- Dry quickly at 40–50 °C in the shade; PROTECTIVE GLOVES MANDATORY — tropane alkaloids are absorbed through the skin. Respiratory protection when crushing dried leaves (dust can release scopolamine). Harvest and processing exclusively by trained botanists or pharmacists.
- Time of day:
- Early morning or evening when the night-blooming trumpets are open; highest scopolamine concentration of all plant parts.
- Drying:
- Dry fresh flowers at low temperature (30–40 °C) in the shade; avoid scent exposure (ventilate rooms — fragrance uptake can become symptomatic). Use exclusively for pharmaceutical or research purposes.
- Scopolamine (Hyoscine)AlkaloidContent: Hauptalkaloid (Blätter/Stängel > 70 % des Tropan-Gesamtgehalts, Blüten dominant)
Lead alkaloid of Brugmansia arborea — unlike Datura stramonium, where atropine/hyoscyamine dominate. Scopolamine efficiently crosses the blood-brain barrier, is more sedating and hallucinogenic than atropine and accounts for the typical shamanic effect. LC-MS analyses (Algradi 2021) confirm scopolamine as the dominant alkaloid in leaves, stems and flowers.
- Hyoscyamine (l-Hyoscyamin)AlkaloidContent: Begleitalkaloid (variabel, höher in jungen Blättern und Wurzeln)
Biologically active enantiomer; partial M-receptor antagonist; racemises to atropine (the dl-racemate) on drying. Quantitatively well below scopolamine in Brugmansia arborea.
- Atropine (dl-Hyoscyamine)AlkaloidContent: Spuren bis geringe Mengen
Racemate of l- and d-hyoscyamine; competitive antagonist at muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M1–M5); mydriatic, antispasmodic, antisecretory. Pharmacologically secondary in B. arborea.
- NorscopolamineAlkaloidContent: Spuren
Demethylated metabolic/accompanying alkaloid of scopolamine; detectable in Brugmansia species; lower anticholinergic activity, taxonomic marker.
- AposcopolamineAlkaloidContent: Spuren
Dehydration product of scopolamine (loss of a hydroxyl group); formed mainly on heating and storage; pharmacologically weaker.
- TropineAlkaloidContent: Spuren
Amino alcohol core structure of the tropane alkaloids; itself barely pharmacologically active; biosynthetic precursor of hyoscyamine and scopolamine. A tropine-forming reductase has been characterised in B. arborea.
- CuscohygrineAlkaloidContent: Spuren (Wurzel)
Pyrrolidine alkaloid with low anticholinergic activity; identified in root extracts of several Solanaceae (Brugmansia, Atropa, Erythroxylum); no practical therapeutic relevance.
- Withanolide (Steroidlactone)OtherContent: Spuren
Steroidal lactones of the withanolide series; detected in Brugmansia and Datura species; immunomodulatory and cytotoxic effects in cell cultures; no practical therapeutic role against the dominant tropane alkaloids.
- [3]MonographReview on the genus Brugmansia: Traditional usage, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicity(accessed: 2026-05-26)
- [4]MonographThe Ritual Use of Brugmansia Species in Traditional Andean Medicine in Northern Peru (De Feo 2004)(accessed: 2026-05-26)
- [5]MonographAlkaloids from Brugmansia arborea (L.) Lagerhein reduce morphine withdrawal in vitro (Capasso & De Feo 2003)(accessed: 2026-05-26)
- [1]WikipediaBrugmansia — Wikipedia (EN)(accessed: 2026-05-26)
- [2]WikipediaEngelstrompeten — Wikipedia (DE)(accessed: 2026-05-26)