| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Genus: | Brunfelsia |
| Species: | sp. |
| Authority: | L. |
| Common Name: | yesterday today & tomorrow |
| Depictions: | Jade ear flare |
| Maya Plant Use: | Members of the Solanaceae family are known hallucinogens. The chemical Scolpoletine can be found in Brunfelsia (Shultes and Hofmann 1992).
Due to the mysterious way in which the Brunfelsia blooms change from blue to lavender, and then to white, might have been considered significant to the ancient Maya, and thus the need to represent them in their art.
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| Botanical Significance: | The five-petaled flower of the ear flare may represent the flower Brunfelsia pauciflora? The long segments with the ear flares could be the stigma seen in their unassembled state. The flower may have been mysterious to the Maya due to the fact that over a short period of time the flowers turn from blue to violet and then to white. |
| Notes: | B. pauciflora? |
| Photos: | Click on an image below for high resolution comparison. |
