Angel’s trumpet: the Andean flower that left the wild
Brugmansia is gone from the wild and lives on in gardens. Its Andean story, its names, and how to grow it safely.
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Henbane, and the Pilsner story that won’t die
Henbane really did go into old beer, but Pilsen was never named after it. Here is the plant’s true record, from Roman bone jars to a bishop’s rain rite.
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Mapacho: tobacco as a sacred plant
Green-flowered Nicotiana rustica was smoked for the gods, blown over the sick and fed to spirits. Here is its long history, and why it stays out of our shop.
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Belladonna and the witches’ ointment in the records
Deadly nightshade carries the flying-ointment story, but the old books say less than you might expect. Here is what the records actually name.
Photo credits on each article.