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Brunfelsia
Also called Kiss Me Quick, Lady Of The Night, Ladies Of The Night, Morning Noon And Night, Raintrees, Sunday Monday, Yesterday Today And Tomorrow
Brunfelsia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to subfamily Petunioideae of the nightshade family Solanaceae. The 50 or so species have been grouped into the three sections: Brunfelsia (circa 22 species), Franciscea (circa 18 species) and Guianenses (circa 6 species), which differ significantly in both distribution and characteristics, although molecular data have revealed that only two sections are natural (monophyletic), namely the Caribbean section Brunfelsia and a common section for all South American species. Linnaeus named the genus for the early German herbalist Otto Brunfels (1488–1534). Common names for the genus include raintree, yesterday-today-tomorrow and lady of the night.
Brunfelsia spp. are neotropical shrubs, small trees and (rarely) lianas. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, and usually oval in shape.
Like many other species belonging to the Solanaceae, some (possibly all) members of this genus contain toxic and medicinal alkaloids. These are known to be poisonous to domestic animals such as cats, dogs, and horses due to their brunfelsamidine content. Toxicity in dogs manifests with strychnine-like gastrointestinal, neurological and cardiac symptoms.
The roots of certain Brunfelsia species have been designated as containing compounds hazardous to human health according to a compendium published in 2012 by the European Food Safety Authority. These compounds include indole alkaloids of the β-carboline group such as harmine, tetrahydroharmine, harmaline, manacine, manaceine, and also derivatives of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and amidines such as pyrrole 3-carboximidamide.
Serpentine Hill raintree · Largeflower brunfelsia · Jamaican Raintree · Brunfelsia latifolia · Brunfelsia membranacea · Brazil Raintree · Brunfelsia plowmaniana · Puerto Rico raintree · Jamaican Brunfelsia · Manaca
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Brunfelsia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
