Huanduj: Brugmansia

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Description

The book is a horticultural, botanical and ethnobotanical monograph of Brugmansia (Solanaceae), the most potent of South American entheogens (psychoactive plants used for religious/spiritual purposes in shamanic cultures). Brugmansia is the only widespread continental plant genus of several species known solely in cultivation, and with now nearly 2000 cultivars, this book provides a world cultivar register with reference to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. This is the first full taxonomic revision of the genus Brugmansia ever published, and combines original field research and horticultural expertise with a review of well over 600 bibliographic references, covering a range of fields from anthropology and ethnobotany, through to biology, pathology, biotechnology and horticulture.

Reviews

"With elegant prose, building on detailed research in the literature and in the field, this beautiful book engagingly dispels the confusion surrounding the taxonomy of this remarkable group of plants. It not only brings current knowledge together in a refreshingly original way but also--just as importantly--points up what we still do not understand about the biology of these enigmatic plants."--David Mabberley, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney
"I searched for ages for the single right adjective to describe this book--an almost impossible task, it is so lovely. Sumptuous about does it . . . this book is a tour de force--chock full of information, beautifully illustrated, meticulously referenced."-- "Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society"

Author Bio

Alistair Hay is a retired senior research scientist and Director of Botanic Gardens and Public Programs at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. He has been cultivating Brugmansia in warm temperate Australia for 25 years.