Brugmansia x candida is an evergreen shrub growing 10 to 20 feet tall. Young stems, leaves and calyx are almost glabrous or sparsely hairy in some forms.
The downy, ovate leaves are very variable in size, reaching a maximu of about 16 inches long. This Angel's Trumpet grows fast and upright, often forming an umbrella-like canopy under which huge, 9-14 inch trumpet shaped flowers are produced. The hanging flowers have a wide range of colors--white through yellow, orange, apricot, and pink--and are sweetly musky scented. The calyx of the flower splits down one side. The fruit is smooth, narrowly spindle-shaped, and about 7 inches long. Brugmannsia x candida is distinguishable from all other species by its fully pendulous flowers combined with the calyx concealing the basal narrow-most zone of the corolla tube. It most closely resembles B. versicolor, which differs in the distal part of the basal narrow-most zone of the corolla tube being exposed (A. Hay, pers. comm. 2006).
The scent of Brugmansia flowers drifting in the air on warm summer evenings can only be described as exotic and intoxicating! The charm and the beauty of this highly ornamental genus are unique.
(Bailey, L. H. and Bailey, E.Z. 1976. Hortus Third.)
(Preissel, U. and Preissel, H. 1997. Engelstrompeten.)
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