# Cestrum

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

'''''Cestrum''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of — depending on authority — 150-250 [species](/source/species) of [flowering plant](/source/flowering_plant)s in the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Solanaceae](/source/Solanaceae). They are native to warm [temperate](/source/temperateness) to [tropical](/source/tropical) regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States ([Florida](/source/Florida), [Texas](/source/Texas): day-blooming cestrum, ''[C. diurnum](/source/Cestrum_diurnum)'') south to the [Bío-Bío Region](/source/B%C3%ADo-B%C3%ADo_Region) in central Chile ([green cestrum](/source/green_Cestrum), ''C. parqui''). They are colloquially known as '''cestrums''' or '''jessamines''' (probably from the word "[jasmine](/source/jasmine)", due to their fragrant flowers, though they are not true jasmines.).

==Description==
They are [shrub](/source/shrub)s 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](/source/evergreen); a few are [deciduous](/source/deciduous)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />. All parts of the plants are [toxic](/source/toxic), causing severe [gastroenteritis](/source/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 &#124; Cochise County Master Gardeners }}</ref>

==Uses and ecology==
Several species are grown as [ornamental plant](/source/ornamental_plant)s for their strongly scented flowers. Numerous cultivars have been produced for garden use, of which 'Newellii' has gained the [Royal Horticultural Society](/source/Royal_Horticultural_Society)'s [Award of Garden Merit](/source/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](/source/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'' ([shaman](/source/shaman)s) of the [Krahô](/source/Krah%C3%B4) tribe in Brazil. It is used "to see far", i.e. to aid in divination. Like the other [hallucinogenic](/source/hallucinogenic) plants consumed by them, Craós ''wajacas'' consider it a potent [entheogen](/source/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 [caterpillar](/source/caterpillar)s of several [Lepidoptera](/source/Lepidoptera) species. These include the [glasswing](/source/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](/source/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 [predator](/source/predator)s.

''Cestrum'' species are reported as [piscicidal](/source/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](/source/Cestrum_diurnum)''), the northernmost species]]
[[File:Cestrum parqui.JPG|thumb|right|[Green cestrum](/source/Green_cestrum) (''C. parqui''), the southernmost species]]
* ''[Cestrum ambatense](/source/Cestrum_ambatense)'' <small>Francey</small>
* ''[Cestrum aurantiacum](/source/Cestrum_aurantiacum)'' &ndash; orange cestrum, orange-flowering jessamine, yellow cestrum, "orange jessamine"
* ''[Cestrum auriculatum](/source/Cestrum_auriculatum)'' <small>L'Hér.</small>
* ''[Cestrum bracteatum](/source/Cestrum_bracteatum)'' <small>Link & Otto</small>
* ''[Cestrum buxifolium](/source/Cestrum_buxifolium)'' <small>Kunth</small>
* ''[Cestrum chimborazinum](/source/Cestrum_chimborazinum)''
* ''[Cestrum corymbosum](/source/Cestrum_corymbosum)'' <small>Schltdl.</small>
* ''[Cestrum daphnoides](/source/Cestrum_daphnoides)'' <small>Griseb.</small>
* ''[Cestrum diurnum](/source/Cestrum_diurnum)'' <small>L.</small> &ndash; Day-blooming cestrum, Day-blooming jessamine
* ''[Cestrum ecuadorense](/source/Cestrum_ecuadorense)'' <small>Francey</small>
* ''[Cestrum elegans](/source/Cestrum_elegans)'' <small>(Brongn. ex Neumann) Schltdl.</small>
* ''[Cestrum endlicheri](/source/Cestrum_endlicheri)'' <small>Miers.</small>
* ''[Cestrum fasciculatum](/source/Cestrum_fasciculatum)'' &ndash; early jessamine, "red cestrum"<!-- also for C. elegans etc -->
* ''[Cestrum humboldtii](/source/Cestrum_humboldtii)'' <small>Francey</small>
* ''[Cestrum laevigatum](/source/Cestrum_laevigatum)'' <small>Schltdl.</small> &ndash; ''dama-de-noite'' ([Brazil](/source/Brazil))<!-- Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 28(4): 277 -->
* ''[Cestrum lanceolatum](/source/Cestrum_lanceolatum)'' <small>[Miers](/source/John_Miers_(botanist))</small> <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2713573|title=Cestrum lanceolatum Miers|website=the plant list}}</ref><!-- possibly synonym of C. aurantiacum -->
<!-- ** ''Cestrum lanceolatum'' var. ''lanceolatum'' -->
* ''[Cestrum lanuginosum](/source/Cestrum_lanuginosum)'' <small>Ruiz & Pavón</small>
* ''[Cestrum latifolium](/source/Cestrum_latifolium)'' <small>Lam.</small>
* ''[Cestrum laurifolium](/source/Cestrum_laurifolium)'' <small>L'Hér.</small>
* ''[Cestrum meridanum](/source/Cestrum_meridanum)'' <small>Pittier</small>
* ''[Cestrum mutisii](/source/Cestrum_mutisii)'' <small>Roem. & Schult.</small>
* ''[Cestrum nocturnum](/source/Cestrum_nocturnum)'' &ndash; night-blooming cestrum, night-blooming jessamine, "lady of the night", ''raat ki rani'' ([South Asia](/source/South_Asia))
* ''[Cestrum pacificum](/source/Cestrum_pacificum)''
* ''[Cestrum parqui](/source/Cestrum_parqui)'' &ndash; green cestrum, Chilean cestrum, green poisonberry
* ''[Cestrum peruvianum](/source/Cestrum_peruvianum)'' <small>Roemer & Schultes</small>
* ''[Cestrum petiolare](/source/Cestrum_petiolare)'' <small>Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth</small>
* ''[Cestrum psittacinum](/source/Cestrum_psittacinum)'' <small>Stapf</small>
* ''[Cestrum quitense](/source/Cestrum_quitense)'' <small>Francey</small>
* ''[Cestrum roseum](/source/Cestrum_roseum)'' <small>Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth</small>
* ''[Cestrum salicifolium](/source/Cestrum_salicifolium)'' <small>Jacq.</small>
* ''[Cestrum santanderianum](/source/Cestrum_santanderianum)'' <small>Francey</small>
* ''[Cestrum sendtnerianum](/source/Cestrum_sendtnerianum)'' <small>[Mart.](/source/Carl_Friedrich_Philipp_von_Martius) ex [Sendtn.](/source/Sendtn.)</small>
* ''[Cestrum sessiliflorum](/source/Cestrum_sessiliflorum)'' <small>[Schott](/source/Heinrich_Wilhelm_Schott) ex [Sendtn.](/source/Sendtn.)</small>
* ''[Cestrum stipulatum](/source/Cestrum_stipulatum)'' <small>[Vell.](/source/Vell.)</small>
* ''[Cestrum strigilatum](/source/Cestrum_strigilatum)'' <small>Ruiz & Pav.</small>
* ''[Cestrum stuebelii](/source/Cestrum_stuebelii)'' <small>Hieron.</small>
* ''[Cestrum thyrsoideum](/source/Cestrum_thyrsoideum)'' <small>Kunth.</small>
* ''[Cestrum tomentosum](/source/Cestrum_tomentosum)'' <small>L.f.</small>
* ''[Cestrum validum](/source/Cestrum_validum)'' <small>Francey</small>
* ''[Cestrum viridifolium](/source/Cestrum_viridifolium)'' <small>Francey</small>

==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. <small>{{ISBN|3-540-41017-1}}</small>
* Huxley, A. (ed.) (1992): ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan.
* [Reiche, Karl Friedrich](/source/Karl_Friedrich_Reiche) (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](/source/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.

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1364444}}

Category:Cestrum
Category:Solanaceae genera

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cestrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cestrum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cestrum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.