Cestrum nocturnum is a species of
CestrumCestrum is a genus of - depending on authority - 150-250 species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae. They are native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States south to the Bío-Bío Region in central Chile...
, native to the West Indies. Common names include
Night-blooming Cestrum,
Lady of the Night,
Queen of the Night,
Night-blooming jessamine, and
Night-blooming Jasmine. Also known as
Raat ki Rani (Queen of the night) in
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
and
HindiStandard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a standardised register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 languages with official status in India, and is used, along with English, for administration of the central government.Standard Hindi is a sanskritised register derived...
, 夜來香 (
yè lái xiāng) or 夜香木 (
yè xiāng mù) in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, and
Galán de Noche in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
.
Description
It is an
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
woody
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
growing to tall. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are simple, narrow lanceolate, 6-20 cm (2-8 in) long and 2-4.5 cm broad, smooth and glossy, with an entire margin. The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are greenish-white, with a slender tubular corolla 2-2.5 cm (1 in) long with five acute lobes, 10-13 mm diameter when open at night; they are produced in
cymoseCyme or CYME may refer to:*Cyme , an ancient Greek city on the east coast of the Aegean Sea*Kymi, an ancient Greek city on the west coast of the Aegean Sea*Matane Airport * A type of inflorescence on a plant...
inflorescenceAn inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s, and are strongly scented. The scent is released at night. The
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
is a poisonous white
berryThe botanical definition of a berry is a simple fruit produced from a single ovary, such as a grape or a tomato. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. The flowers of these plants have a superior ovary formed by the fusion of...
. There is also a variety with yellowish flowers.
Cultivation and uses
Cestrum nocturnum also known as Night Blooming Jasmine, is grown in subtropical regions as an
ornamental plantOrnamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, stem and bark. In some cases, unusual features may be considered ornamental, such as the...
for its strongly-scented flowers. It grows best in average to moist soil that is light and sandy, with a neutral pH of 6.6 to 7.5, and is hardy to
hardiness zoneA hardiness zone is a geographically-defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone...
8. Feed bi-weekly with a weak dilution of seaweed and fish emulsion fertilizer.
Ingestion of night jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum L.) has not been well-documented, but there is some reason to believe that caution is in order. The most commonly-reported problems associated with night jessamine are respiratory problems from the scent, and feverish symptoms following ingestion.
Some people - especially those with respiratory sensitivities or asthma - report difficulty breathing, irritation of the nose and throat, headache, nausea, or other symptoms when exposed to the blossom's powerful scent. Some Cestrum species contain chlorogenic acid, and the presence of this potent sensitizer may be responsible for this effect in C. nocturnum.
Some plant guides describe night jessamine as "toxic" and warn that ingesting plant parts, especially fruit, may result in elevated temperature, rapid pulse, excess salivation and gastritis.
The mechanisms of the plants psychoactive effects are currently unknown, and anecdotal data is extremely limited. In a rare discussion of traditional entheogenic use of the plant, Müller-Ebeling, Rätsch, and Shahi describe shamanic use of night jessamine in Nepal. They describe experiencing "trippy" effects without mentioning unpleasant physical side effects. Rätsch's Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants also describes a handful of reports of ingestion of the plant without mentioning serious adverse side effects.
Spoerke et al. describe the following toxic effects reported from ingesting C. nocturnum:
Ingesting 15 lb of plant material caused a cow to salivate, clamp its jaws, collapse, and eventually die. A postmortem showed gastroenteritis and congestion of liver, kidneys, brain, and spinal cord. Although the berries and the sap are suspected of being toxic, several cases of ingestion of the berries have not shown them to be a problem, with one exception. Morton cites a case where children ate significant quantities (handfuls) of berries and had no significant effects and another two where berries were ingested in smaller amounts, with similar negative results.
Ingestion of green berries over several weeks by a 2-year-old child resulted in diarrhea, vomiting, and blood clots in the stool. Anemia and purpura [discoloration of the skin caused by subcutaneous bleeding] were also noted. A solanine alkaloid isolated from the stool was hemolytic to human erythrocytes. (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cestrum/cestrum_health1.shtml)
Invasive potential
It has become widely
naturalisedIn biology, naturalisation is the process when foreign or cultivated plants or animals have spread into the wild, where they multiply by natural regeneration....
in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, including
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, southern
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and the southernmost
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and is difficult to eradicate. It is classed as a weed in some countries.
In
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with a population approaching 1.4 million residents, percent of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest...
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, it has been reported as a seriously invasive weed to the
Auckland Regional CouncilThe Auckland Regional Council is the regional council of the Auckland Region. Its current chairman is Mike Lee, together with 12 other Councillors...
and is under investigation. NS Forest and Bird is compiling an inventory of wild cestrum sites in order that we can get this plant on the banned list. This inventory can be viewed on the internet on Google Maps
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106192109332937319052.000452fadea9e1a357b2a&ll=-36.765842,174.553528&spn=0.375695,0.602875&z=11. Regrettably some plant barns are still selling it without warning customers of the dangers to native bush reserves. It has been reported that the plant has been removed from some old folks homes because the strong scent was causing difficulties to the residents.
In media
- Cestrum nocturnum ("夜來香" [yè lái xiāng]) is the title and subject of a 1943 song by Li Xianglan(李香蘭)
, born February 12, 1920 is a China-born Japanese actress and singer who made a career in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars...
. The song is loved by many Chinese people, and many singers including Taiwanese singer Teresa TengTeresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout east Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
have covered it.