''Cestrum fasciculatum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

known by the common names early jessamine and red cestrum. It is native to central

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, but it is also kept elsewhere as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

Description

This is a gangly evergreen

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

reaching a maximum height of over two meters. The stems, and especially new twigs, are sometimes purple in color and slightly hairy. It bears hairy, oval-shaped, pointed green leaves up to 13 centimeters long.

Inflorescence

Plentiful

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s appear at the tips of stem branches, each a dense cluster of up to 10 hairy red flowers. Each tubular flower is 2 or 3 centimeters long, counting the elongated calyx of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s and the long corolla. The fruit is a berry about 1.5 centimeters wide which is red on the outside and white inside with about 10 small brown seeds.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPlant of the Week
fasciculatum Flora of Mexico {{Solanales-stub