What Is ‘Zombie Flower’? Trumpet Plant Linked To Mind-Control Drug In Epstein Files

Last Updated:February 18, 2026, 06:52 IST

Emails show Epstein asking a contact in 2014 to "ask Chris about my trumpet plants at nursery" and forwarding articles describing scopolamine.

Newly released documents connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein include several references to so-called trumpet plants- large, bell-shaped flowering shrubs that produce some of the most potent mind-altering chemicals found in nature.

Emails cited in reports show Epstein asking a contact in 2014 to “ask Chris about my trumpet plants at nursery [SIC]?" and forwarding articles describing scopolamine, a chemical derived from the plants, as a substance that “ELIMINATES free will." A later communication included an account from an alleged victim describing symptoms consistent with scopolamine exposure.

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What Is ‘Zombie Flower’?

The term refers to plants from two closely related genera: Brugmansia, commonly known as Angel’s Trumpet and Datura. Both produce the distinctive large, hanging, trumpet-shaped flowers that give them their common name. Both are grown worldwide as ornamentals and can be found in gardens, parks and nurseries. Despite their striking appearance, all parts of both plants are highly toxic. Their danger comes from a class of natural chemicals called tropane alkaloids- specifically scopolamine, atropine and hyoscyamine- which act directly on the brain and nervous system.

What Does Scopolamine Do To Human Body?

In medicine, scopolamine has legitimate uses. In small, carefully controlled doses it is prescribed to treat motion sickness and post-surgical nausea, typically delivered via a slow-release skin patch. At higher doses, the drug interferes with the central nervous system’s ability to regulate memory, perception and voluntary movement.

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Effects can include severe hallucinations, deep confusion, loss of motor control and- most notoriously- a state of extreme suggestibility in which victims appear conscious and can follow instructions but are unable to resist commands or form lasting memories of what has happened to them. It is this quality that has earned the drug its more alarming nicknames: “Devil’s Breath" and the “zombie drug."

Why Is The Plant Considered Dangerous To Trace?

Beyond the severity of its effects, scopolamine presents a practical problem for investigators and victims: it may not appear in routine toxicology screenings. Standard post-assault or emergency room drug tests are not always designed to detect tropane alkaloids, meaning that even if someone were exposed, the evidence could disappear before it was ever looked for.

What Does Science Say About Plants Like This?

Botanically speaking, trumpet plants are not designed to harm humans. The tropane alkaloids they produce evolved as a chemical defense- a way of making the plant unpalatable or dangerous to the insects, mammals and other animals that might otherwise eat it. From the plant’s perspective, the chemistry is simply survival.

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