Help with angel trumpets

[Petee]

My moon flowers started to bloom last week.they open in late evening and smell great. I have had them come back from the root and bloom until frost what ever you have they look and smell great. I have several angel trumpet colors if you want a cutting.

Another source of confusion:  Moon flowers.  Devil's Trumpet is sometimes called Moon flower and so is a vine called Moon Flower.  They all have similar flowers that smell good.

 

All three together:  Brugmansia, a small tree, flowers hang down

                           Datura, a small shrubby plant, about two foot tall, flowers point up

                           Ipomoea, Moonflower vine, it's a vine! :-)

 

[lavender]

Even the taxonomists are clear on what is Datura and what is Brugmansia. The two were only split into two genera in the '70's. Thus you get names like Brugmansia versicolor Lagerh. (Synonym: Datura mollis Saff.) Up until that point all Brugmansias were Daturas. To some nurseries and probably even taxonomists they still are.

There are many different species of these plants, plus hybrids, so it isn't safe to make generalizations and you can forget common names as they often refer to both. Just for fun here is an Encarta encyclopedia article referring to Datura as "Angel's trumpet".

 

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761582739/datura.html

 

There are no hard and fast rules with common names and as you can see even the taxonomic names which are supposed to be the final call are interchangeable. Don't yell at your nurseryman. He calls them as he sees them and so should we all. Just enjoy them.