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Chilean jessamine, green poison berry

jessamine

Habit Shrubs, to 2 m; stems glabrous or pubescent; axillary branches usually subtended by 1–3 minor leaves. Shrubs, trees, or lianas, glabrous or pubescent, hairs simple or branched.
Stems

erect or lax, sparsely branched from base.

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.

alternate.

Inflorescences

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

axillary (sometimes clustered in leaf axils, often bracteate or bracteolate) [terminal], paniculate [racemose].

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.

5-merous, radially symmetric to slightly bilateral;

calyx campanulate or tubular, lobes 3–5, acute to linear (equal or unequal), expanding slightly in fruit;

corolla white, pale yellow, pale green, or yellow-green, [red, pink, or orange], radial, tubular (tube frequently expanded around anthers), lobes 4 or 5, deltate to acute;

stamens equal or subequal, inserted at varying levels in corolla tube, filaments frequently pubescent, frequently with an appendage at point of fusion to corolla;

anthers dorsifixed, oblong to ellipsoid, dehiscing by longitudinal slits;

ovary 2-carpellate (2- or 4-locular);

style slender, usually surpassing stamens;

stigma entire or 2-lobed, rarely exserted.

Fruits

berries, often juicy, globose, ovoid, or oblong.

Berries

black, 7–9 × 3–6.5 mm.

Seeds

oblong to angulate.

x

= 8.

2n

= 16.

Cestrum parqui

Cestrum

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]
from USDA
Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies (Greater Antilles) [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

Species ca. 175 (3 in the flora).

Some species of Cestrum are cultivated as ornamentals in warmer parts of the United States. Three are established in the flora area, and C. aurantiacum Lindley and C. fasciculatum (Schlechtendal) Miers may become established; they are shrubs or trees (to 4–5 m) and have brightly colored corollas (orange in C. aurantiacum and pink or red in C. fasciculatum). Berries of C. aurantiacum are white; those of C. fasciculatum are red. Cestrum fasciculatum may also be known as C. elegans Francey, an illegitimate homonym.

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

Key
1. Axillary branches not subtended by minor leaves; berries ripening white.
C. nocturnum
1. Axillary branches usually subtended by 1–3 minor leaves; berries ripening dark purple or black.
→ 2
2. Calyces 3–4 mm, lobes 0.5–0.8 mm; corollas 11–16 mm, lobes 1.7–2.3 mm.
C. diurnum
2. Calyces 4.5–5.5 mm, lobes 1.2–1.5 mm; corollas 18–22 mm, lobes 4–4.5 mm.
C. parqui
Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14. Author: Alexandre K. Monro.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Cestrum Solanaceae
Sibling taxa
C. diurnum, C. nocturnum
Subordinate taxa
C. diurnum, C. nocturnum, C. parqui
Name authority L’Héritier: Stirp. Nov. 4: 73, plate 36. (1788) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 191. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 88. (1754)
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