GENERIC RECOGNITION 
OF BRUGMANSIA 
BY 
Tom E. Locxwoop* 
An Historical Review 
The question of whether the South American /flor- 
pondios should be regarded as a subgenus or section of 
Datura or accorded generic rank as Brugmansia has long 
been a matter of debate among taxonomists. The pre- 
cedent for their being placed in Datura was established 
by Linnaeus (14) in 1753 with the naming of Datura 
arborea. Following Linnaeus’ example, Ruiz and Pavon 
(16), in their Flora Peruviana of 1799, described a new 
species of floripondio as D. sanguinea and incorrectly 
described another member of the genus as Linnaeus’ 
D. arborea. The description of this misidentified plant 
was used by Persoon (15) in 1895 as the basis for Brug- 
mansia candida. Persoon distinguished the two genera on 
differences in fruit and flower morphology as well as habit. 
Persoon’s treatment did not meet with universal ac- 
ceptance. Bernhardi (3) pointed out in 1833 that some 
of the characters used by Persoon for segregating Brug- 
mansia were to be tound in Datura ceratocaula—a unique 
semi-aquatic species indigenous to Mexico. The ‘‘link- 
ing’’ characters of this species, as listed by Bernhardi, 
* Botanical Museum, Harvard University. 
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