Brugmansia vulcanicola is a shrub or tree in the family Solanaceae native to Colombia and Ecuador.
Description Vegetative characteristics Brugmansia vulcanicola is a 3–4 m tall shrub or small treeEscobar Mena, E. D. (2018). Identificación molecular de las especies del género Brugmansia (Solanaceae), presentes en la zona norte de los Andes del Ecuador (Bachelor's thesis). with alternate, petiolate, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 20 cm long, and 10 cm wide leaves with an acute apex. The petiole is up to 10 cm long. The wood is very hard. Generative characteristics The axillary, pedicellate, red, yellow, or pink, pendent, tubular / trumpet-shaped flowers belong to the smallest of all Brugmansia at . They also have the shortest corolla peaks at . The non-persistent calyx is dentate. The obovate, warty, bisulcate capsule fruit bears smooth, shiny, reniform, 7 mm long, and 5 mm wide seeds.
Taxonomy It was first described as Datura vulcanicola by Arthur Stewart Barclay in 1959.Barclay, Arthur S. (1959). New Considerations in an Old Genus: Datura. Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, 18(6), 245--272. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.168515Datura vulcanicola A.S.Barclay. (n.d.). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved April 24, 2026, from https://www.ipni.org/n/76969-2 It was placed in the genus Brugmansia as Brugmansia vulcanicola by Richard Evans Schultes in 1977.Schultes, Richard Evans, & Bright, Alec. (1977). A Native Drawing of an Hallucinogenic Plant from Colombia. Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, 25(6), 151--159. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.168623Brugmansia vulcanicola (A.S.Barclay) R.E.Schult. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved April 24, 2026, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:37445-2
Distribution and habitat Brugmansia vulcanicola was endemic to the Andes mountains of Colombia and Ecuador at elevations of but it is now extinct in the wild.
Toxicity
All parts of Brugmansia vulcanicola are poisonous, containing tropane alkaloids.
Conservation It is Extinct in the Wild and no wild populations of Brugmansia vulcanicola were ever recorded. It is threatened by hybridisation with Brugmansia sanguinea and in some locations the collected Brugmansia vulcanicola seeds only give rise to hybridised seedlings. It is susceptible to the Colombian Datura virus (CDV)Berger, M. (2003). Stechapfel und Engelstrompete: Ein halluzinogenes Schwesternpaar. Switzerland: Nachtschatten Verlag. in the family Potyviridae but infected plants are rare. Populations have been destroyed by bee-keepers, fearing that the toxic Brugmansia vulcanicola could negatively affect the local honey production. Brugmansia vulcanicola is cultivated in several ex-situ collections in botanical gardens.Brugmansia vulcanicola (A.S.Barclay) R.E.Schult. (n.d.-b). BGCI PlantSearch. Retrieved April 24, 2026, from https://plantsearch.bgci.org/taxon/38691
Uses It was used as an hallucinogenic narcotic.
References