Cestrum

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Ruhr-Uni-Bochum-0024.JPG | image_caption = Fruit and blossoms of ''Cestrum tomentosum'' | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Cestrum | authority = L. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Some 150-250, see text | synonyms = *''Fregirardia'' *''Habrothamnus'' *''Meyenia'' Schltdl. (''non'' Backeb.: preoccupied) *''Parqui'' *''Wadea'' }}

'''''Cestrum''''' is a genus of — depending on authority — 150-250 species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae. They are native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States (Florida, Texas: day-blooming cestrum, ''C. diurnum'') south to the Bío-Bío Region in central Chile (green cestrum, ''C. parqui''). They are colloquially known as '''cestrums''' or '''jessamines''' (probably from the word "jasmine", due to their fragrant flowers, though they are not true jasmines.).

==Description== They are shrubs growing to {{Convert|6 - 10|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Cestrum elegans - Plant Finder |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=287192&isprofile=0&pt=4 |access-date=2026-05-12 |website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Cestrum aurantiacum - Plant Finder |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=287190&isprofile=0&pt=4 |access-date=2026-05-12 |website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}</ref> tall. Most are evergreen; a few are deciduous<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />. All parts of the plants are toxic, causing severe gastroenteritis if eaten.<ref>The University of Arizona, Cochise County Master Gardeners, '''Cestrums (jessamine)''', Barbara Shelor, Nov. 1991{{cite web | url=https://cals.arizona.edu/cochise/mg/common-poisonous-plants | title=Common Poisonous Plants | Cochise County Master Gardeners }}</ref>

==Uses and ecology== Several species are grown as ornamental plants for their strongly scented flowers. Numerous cultivars have been produced for garden use, of which 'Newellii' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref name = RHSPF>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/91344/i-Cestrum-i-Newellii/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Cestrum'' 'Newellii' | accessdate=12 January 2018}}</ref> (confirmed 2017).<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 16 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | accessdate = 24 January 2018}}</ref>

Some are invasive species. Especially notorious is green cestrum (''C. parqui'') in Australia, where it can cause serious losses to livestock which eat the leaves (particularly of drying broken branches) unaware of their toxicity.<ref>North West Weeds (2003): [http://www.northwestweeds.nsw.gov.au/green_cestrum.htm Green cestrum] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820190343/http://www.northwestweeds.nsw.gov.au/green_cestrum.htm |date=August 20, 2006 }}. Version of 2003-APR-15. Retrieved 2007-NOV-14.</ref>

''C. laevigatum'' is employed by ''wajacas'' (shamans) of the Krahô tribe in Brazil. It is used "to see far", i.e. to aid in divination. Like the other hallucinogenic plants consumed by them, Craós ''wajacas'' consider it a potent entheogen, not to be taken by the uninitiated.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Rodrigues | first1 = Eliana | last2 = Carlini | first2 = E.A. | year = 2006 | title = Plants with possible psychoactive effects used by the Krahô Indians, Brazil | journal = Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria | volume = 28 | issue = 4 | pages = 277–282 | doi = 10.1590/s1516-44462006000400006 | pmid = 17242806 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

''Cestrum'' species are used as food by the caterpillars of several Lepidoptera species. These include the glasswing (''Greta oto''), the Antillean clearwing (''Greta diaphanus'')<ref>{{cite journal |author1=A. Sourakov |author2=T. C. Emmel | title = Life history of Greta diaphana from the Dominican Republic (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) | journal = Tropical Lepidoptera | year = 1995 | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 155–157 | url=https://journals.flvc.org/troplep/article/view/90052 }}</ref> and ''Manduca afflicta'', which possibly<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.silkmoths.m.bizland.com/Sphinx/mafflaff.htm|title=Manduca afflicta afflicta man-DOO-kuhM af-FLIK-ta (Grote, 1865) Sphinx|last=Oehlke|first=Bill|website=silkmoths}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://allaboutheaven.org/overload/349/109/eating-grubs|title=Eating grubs|website=All About Heaven}}</ref> feeds only on day-blooming cestrum. It is either known or suspected that such Lepidoptera are able to sequester the toxins from the plant, making them noxious to many predators.

''Cestrum'' species are reported as piscicidal.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=CS JAWALE |author2=LB DAMA | title = Haematological Changes In The Fresh Water Fish, Exposed To Sub-Lethal Concentration Of Piscicidal Compounds From (Fam: Solanaceae) | journal = National Journal of Life Sciences | year = 2010 | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 82–84 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/215901825}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chetan Jawale |author2=Rambhau Kirdak |author3=Laxmikant Dama | title = Larvicidal activity of Cestrum nocturnum on Aedes aegypti | journal = Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology | year = 2010 | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | pages = 39–40 | doi=10.3329/bjp.v5i1.4714| doi-access = free }}</ref>

==Selected species== [[File:Cestrum diurnum.jpg|thumb|right|Day-blooming cestrum (''C. diurnum''), the northernmost species]] [[File:Cestrum parqui.JPG|thumb|right|Green cestrum (''C. parqui''), the southernmost species]] * ''Cestrum ambatense'' Francey * ''Cestrum aurantiacum'' – orange cestrum, orange-flowering jessamine, yellow cestrum, "orange jessamine" * ''Cestrum auriculatum'' L'Hér. * ''Cestrum bracteatum'' Link & Otto * ''Cestrum buxifolium'' Kunth * ''Cestrum chimborazinum'' * ''Cestrum corymbosum'' Schltdl. * ''Cestrum daphnoides'' Griseb. * ''Cestrum diurnum'' L. – Day-blooming cestrum, Day-blooming jessamine * ''Cestrum ecuadorense'' Francey * ''Cestrum elegans'' (Brongn. ex Neumann) Schltdl. * ''Cestrum endlicheri'' Miers. * ''Cestrum fasciculatum'' – early jessamine, "red cestrum" * ''Cestrum humboldtii'' Francey * ''Cestrum laevigatum'' Schltdl. – ''dama-de-noite'' (Brazil) * ''Cestrum lanceolatum'' Miers <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2713573|title=Cestrum lanceolatum Miers|website=the plant list}}</ref>  * ''Cestrum lanuginosum'' Ruiz & Pavón * ''Cestrum latifolium'' Lam. * ''Cestrum laurifolium'' L'Hér. * ''Cestrum meridanum'' Pittier * ''Cestrum mutisii'' Roem. & Schult. * ''Cestrum nocturnum'' – night-blooming cestrum, night-blooming jessamine, "lady of the night", ''raat ki rani'' (South Asia) * ''Cestrum pacificum'' * ''Cestrum parqui'' – green cestrum, Chilean cestrum, green poisonberry * ''Cestrum peruvianum'' Roemer & Schultes * ''Cestrum petiolare'' Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth * ''Cestrum psittacinum'' Stapf * ''Cestrum quitense'' Francey * ''Cestrum roseum'' Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth * ''Cestrum salicifolium'' Jacq. * ''Cestrum santanderianum'' Francey * ''Cestrum sendtnerianum'' Mart. ex Sendtn. * ''Cestrum sessiliflorum'' Schott ex Sendtn. * ''Cestrum stipulatum'' Vell. * ''Cestrum strigilatum'' Ruiz & Pav. * ''Cestrum stuebelii'' Hieron. * ''Cestrum thyrsoideum'' Kunth. * ''Cestrum tomentosum'' L.f. * ''Cestrum validum'' Francey * ''Cestrum viridifolium'' Francey

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Commons category}} * Diario de plantas (2007): [http://www.aromaticas.es/cestrum-parqui/56/ ''Cestrum parqui''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210153936/http://www.aromaticas.es/cestrum-parqui/56/ |date=2008-02-10 }}. Version of 2007-APR-20. Retrieved 2007-NOV-14. * Hanelt, Peter & Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (eds.) (2001): [http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:46:4310555509004144::NO::module,source,akzanz,rehm,akzname,taxid:mf,botnam,0,,Cestrum,6219 ''Cestrum'']. ''In: Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (Except Ornamentals)''. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. {{ISBN|3-540-41017-1}} * Huxley, A. (ed.) (1992): ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan. * Reiche, Karl Friedrich (1910): 10. ''Cestrum'' L.. ''In: Estudios criticos sobre la Flora de Chile'' '''5''': 372-373. [http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/FloraData/060/PDF/V05/Volume5-Cestrum.pdf PDF] * Ulloa Ulloa, Carmen & Jørgensen, Peter Møller (1993): [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=201&taxon_id=106283 ''Cestrum'']. ''In: Árboles y arbustos de los Andes del Ecuador''. Aarhus University Press. {{ISBN|87-87600-39-0}} * United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2007a): Germplasm Resources Information Network - [https://web.archive.org/web/20081005044939/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?2328 ''Cestrum'']. Retrieved 2007-NOV-14. * Jawale C.S., Dama L.B. (2010). [https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?oi=bibs&hl=en&cluster=6170066661748951213&btnI=Lucky Insecticidal potential of ''Cestrum'' sp. (Solanaceae:Solanales) against ''Tribolium castaneumand Tribolium confusum ''(Herbst)(Coleoptera- Tenebrionidae).] Deccan Curr. Sci. 3(2): 155-161.

Category:Cestrum Category:Solanaceae genera