Brunfelsia alkaloids have not been determined. Depending upon the species, Brunfelsia have been used as condiments, for herbal baths, to treat syphilis, diarrhea, and rheumatism, in shamanistic rituals, and as aphrodisiacs. Internal poisoning by Brunfelsia is said to cause the tactile sensation, urtication, a pain similar to having stuck one's body into nettle, as well as the inability to walk, frothing at the mouth, abdominal cramps, nausea, weak vomiting, and vertigo.

Linnaeus named the genus for Otto Brunfels, a German botanist. Brunfels (1464-1534), a Carthusian monk and teacher, lived at the start of the Renaissance when science began to focus on understanding the natural world. Brunfels joined Luther's Reformation, became a botanist/physician, and produced Herbarum Vivae Eicones (Living Portraits of Plants) published in 1530.

From the fall of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance, herbals were rehashes of the works of Theophrastus (Greek father of botany) and Dioscorides (physician with the Roman army). Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle, attained his knowledge of botany by 'pure' reasoning. Dioscorides described only those plants that had medicinal uses.

The works of Theophrastus and Dioscorides were considered absolute authority; the-powers-that-be deemed that the ancients possessed all knowledge. (Indeed, any independent study could lead to charges of heresy.)

Herbarum Vivae Eicones was not all that different from earlier herbals with one major exception--the wood-cut prints from drawings made by Hans Weiditz depicted plants realistically. Brunfels' work challenged the old authorities and botanical works became studies of the structures, functions, and habits of plants.