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Chilean jessamine, green poison berry

Habit Shrubs, to 2 m; stems glabrous or pubescent; axillary branches usually subtended by 1–3 minor leaves.
Leaves

petiole 6–10 mm;

blade narrowly ovate, narrowly elliptic, narrowly ovate-elliptic, or narrowly oblong-elliptic, 4.1–8.7 × 1.2–3 cm.

Inflorescences

1 per axil, each cluster 1–6-flowered.

Flowers

calyx 4.5–5.5 × 2–2.8 mm, lobes 3 or 5, erect, 1.2–1.5 mm;

corolla pale yellow to pale green, 18–22 mm, lobes 4–4.5 mm.

Berries

black, 7–9 × 3–6.5 mm.

2n

= 16.

Cestrum parqui

Phenology Flowering mid-summer–winter.
Habitat Disturbed forest, secondary scrub, riversides.
Elevation 60–400 m. (200–1300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; TX; South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cestrum parqui has the potential to become an invasive species where it has escaped in the United States.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Cestrum
Sibling taxa
C. diurnum, C. nocturnum
Name authority L’Héritier: Stirp. Nov. 4: 73, plate 36. (1788)
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