Plant of the Month

Plant of the Month: October 2018

Blue Angel's-Trumpet.
Miniature Angel's-Trumpet

Iochroma australe Griseb.

= Acnistus australis (Griseb.) Griseb.

= Dunalia australis (Griseb.) Sleum.

SOLANACEÆ ; Nightshade Family

Plants cultivated under the English name Angel's Trumpet used to be limited to genera Brugmansia and Datura, both notably toxic. Well, at least in this millennium, some Iochroma species and hybrids have been called Miniature or Mini Angel's-Trumpets, or Mini Brugmansias. And some bear edible berries.

Genus Iochroma consists of about 26 species of tropical central and South American small soft-wooded trees or shrubs; rank, thirsty and cold-tender. The wood can stink. Foliage can be sparse and dull. But the flowers are pretty, sometimes fragrant, and often appear much of the year. Ripe berries of a few species are eaten. Iochroma have been cultivated in the North since the 1800s, and recently an increasing number of hybrids permit more diversity still. Isolated plants set little or no fruit. Too much shade and rich soil promotes voluptuous foliage; to encourage flowers, more sun and leaner soil is best. Fruit flavor varies from almost tasteless or slightly bitter to delicious. Some species are hallucinogenic. My experience is limited to only one species.

Iochroma australe is native from Bolivia to Argentina in tropical forests. It is evergreen or deciduous. In the wild, it can reach 16 feet high. In northern gardens it is more likely 3 to 8 feet tall. The leaves are dull green, 2 to 6 inches long, untoothed; wincingly bitter tasting. Old leaves turn yellow before dropping, a few at a time, all summer. The flowers are an inch or two long, deep purple, blue or white, and if cross-pollinated make little berries that ripen yellow, about half an inch wide. The flavor has been likened to melon and apple; I find them banana tasting.

In Seattle, containerized plants are hardy outside, but if winter gets extra cold, bringing the pot inside for a few days as needed, is sound insurance. It blooms from May into October.

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