Great progress has been made in the field of botany in South America. For more than two decades, the mysterious tree found in Andean cloud forests has remained “non-existent” (incertae sedis) in botanical records.
It looked like an oversized version of familiar garden plants. In early 2024, after extensive research updated to 2026, this towering 66-foot (20 m) tree was officially recognized as a new genus called Daturodendron. Interestingly, it belongs to the Solanaceae family, making it a close relative of tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant. Researchers at the University of Cartagena and the Royal Botanic Gardens used sophisticated plant transcriptome analysis on nearly 300 genes.
Their findings revealed that this tree is a sister tree to all the other members of its tribe, filling an important gap in the evolutionary history of nightshade plants. Future conservation initiatives will prioritize protecting these unique Andean habitats to maintain genetic biodiversity.
Meet the Daturodendron: the giant tree related to tomatoes and potatoes
As mentioned in a study on Research Portal, the genus called Daturodendron includes species that can reach 20 meters in length, or about 66 feet. This is quite large when compared to their smaller vegetable relatives.
Unlike tomatoes and potatoes, which are usually herbaceous plants, daturodendron grows like a tree. It belongs to the tribe Datureae, where you will also find the well-known “angel’s trumpets” or Brugmansia. Researchers identified this new genus because of its distinctive hanging or oblique flowers, robust corollas, and special seed shapes that set it apart from related plants.
How do you explain this rare tree? Fruit development
The classification wasn’t just about appearance. The scientists also used “plant metabolic and transcriptomic evidence.”
By sequencing the DNA of these trees, they discovered that Daturodendron is the main or sister lineage to the rest of the Datura tribe. It bears genetic traits from the common ancestor of many current Solanaceae species. According to a study published in the journal Taxon, these trees shed light on how the fleshy fruits (berries) evolved into the dry, powdery capsule fruits we see in many nightshade species today.
These rare trees grow only in Colombia and Peru
The Daturodendron genus is not limited only to its impressive size. It is important in science because it produces tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine and hyoscyamine. You may recognize these powerful compounds from medicinal plants and poisonous or hallucinogenic nightshades. The researchers shared their findings from the Research Portal and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), highlighting that these trees only grow in the high Andes of Colombia and Peru.
Over millions of years, they have developed unique chemical defenses, making them a kind of natural pharmacy.
