''Cestrum'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of — depending on authority — 150-250

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. They are native to warm

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States (

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

: day-blooming cestrum, '' C. diurnum'') south to the Bío-Bío Region in central Chile (

green cestrum ''Cestrum parqui'', commonly known as palqui, green cestrum, Chilean cestrum, green poisonberry, or willow-leaved jessamine, is a species of flowering plant native to Chile. In cultivation in the United Kingdom this plant has gained the Royal H ...

, ''C. parqui''). They are colloquially known as cestrums or jessamines (probably from the word "

jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

", due to their fragrant flowers). They are

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 ...

s growing to tall. Most are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

; a few are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. All parts of the plants are

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

, causing severe

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

if eaten.

Uses and ecology

Several species are grown as

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 ...

s for their strongly scented flowers. Numerous cultivars have been produced for garden use, of which 'Newellii' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. (confirmed 2017). Some are

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

. 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. ''C. laevigatum'' is employed by ''wajacas'' (

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

s) of the

Krahô The Krahô (, ) are an indigenous Timbira Gê people of northeastern Brazil. The Krahô historically inhabited a portion of modern Maranhão along the Balsas River, but were pushed west by pioneer settlement and cattle farmers. Currently, the K ...

tribe in Brazil. It is used "to see far", i.e. to aid in divination. Like the other

hallucinogenic Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, moo ...

plants consumed by them, Craós ''wajacas'' consider it a potent

entheogen Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called "magic" mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancie ...

, not to be taken by the uninitiated. ''Cestrum'' species are used as food by the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of several

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species. These include the

glasswing ''Greta oto'' is a species of brush-footed butterfly and member of the subfamily Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, and subtribe Godyridina. It is known by the common name glasswing butterfly for its transparent wings, which allow it to camouflage witho ...

(''Greta oto''), the Antillean clearwing (''Greta diaphanus'') and '' Manduca afflicta'', which possibly 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 Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s. ''Cestrum'' species are reported as piscicidal.

Selected species

* '' Cestrum ambatense'' Francey * ''

Cestrum aurantiacum ''Cestrum aurantiacum'' (orange cestrum, "orange jessamine", orange-flowering jessamine, and yellow cestrum; syn. ''Capraria lanceolata'' L.f.) is a species of shrub in the potato family Solanaceae that is native to tropical regions of North Amer ...

'' – 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 ''Cestrum elegans'', the purple cestrum, red cestrum, or bastard jasmine, is a species of flowering plants in the genus '' Cestrum''. History ''Cestrum elegans'' belongs to the family Solanaceae. Solanaceae is derived from the Greek language mea ...

'' (Brongn. ex Neumann) Schltdl. * '' Cestrum endlicheri'' Miers. * ''

Cestrum fasciculatum ''Cestrum fasciculatum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae known by the common names early jessamine and red cestrum. It is native to central Mexico, but it is also kept elsewhere as an ornamental plant. Description This ...

'' – early jessamine, "red cestrum" * '' Cestrum humboldtii'' Francey * '' Cestrum laevigatum'' Schltdl. – ''dama-de-noite'' (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) * '' Cestrum lanceolatum''

Miers Miers is a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Sir Anthony Miers (1906–1985), Royal Navy admiral *Sir David Miers (born 1937), British ambassador *Earl Schenck Miers (1910–1972), American historian *Edward J. Miers (1851–1930), Eng ...

* '' Cestrum lanuginosum'' Ruiz & Pavón * '' Cestrum latifolium'' Lam. * '' Cestrum laurifolium'' L'Hér. * '' Cestrum meridanum'' Pittier * '' Cestrum mutisii'' Roem. & Schult. * ''

Cestrum nocturnum ''Cestrum nocturnum'', the lady of the night, night-blooming jasmine, night-blooming jessamine, night-scented jessamine, night-scented cestrum or poisonberry, is a species of plant in the potato family Solanaceae. It is native to Mexico, Central ...

'' – night-blooming cestrum, night-blooming jessamine, "lady of the night", ''raat ki rani'' (

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

) * '' Cestrum pacificum'' * ''

Cestrum parqui ''Cestrum parqui'', commonly known as palqui, green cestrum, Chilean cestrum, green poisonberry, or willow-leaved jessamine, is a species of flowering plant native to Chile. In cultivation in the United Kingdom this plant has gained the Royal H ...

'' – 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 ''Cestrum'' is a genus of — depending on authority — 150-250 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Solanaceae. They are native to warm temperateness, temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southernmost U ...

'' Jacq. * '' Cestrum santanderianum'' Francey * '' Cestrum sendtnerianum''

Mart. Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botany, botanist and explorer. Between 1817 and 1820, he travelled 10,000 km through Brazil while collecting botanical specimens. His m ...

ex Sendtn. * '' Cestrum sessiliflorum'' Schott ex Sendtn. * '' Cestrum stipulatum'' Vell. * '' Cestrum strigilatum'' Ruiz & Pav. * '' Cestrum stuebelii'' Hieron. * '' Cestrum thyrsoideum'' Kunth. * ''

Cestrum tomentosum ''Cestrum tomentosum'' is a plant in the genus ''Cestrum'' that ranges throughout central and South America. It process high fragrant pink flowers followed by pink colored berries. All parts are poisonous if eaten. See also *Cestrum References< ...

'' L.f. * '' Cestrum validum'' Francey * '' Cestrum viridifolium'' Francey

Uses and ecology

Selected species

References

Further reading