Cestrum parqui (lam.) L'Hér.
green cestrum
Shrub, generally 1-3 m high. Petiole to 1 cm long. Lamina 2-12-(14) × 0.5-3 cm, lanceolate to narrow-ovate, minutely puberulent when young, otherwise glabrous; base attenuate or cuneate; apex acute to short-acuminate. Infl. paniculate, dense; branches ± puberulent; fls subsessile or with pedicels to 7 mm long, fragrant nocturnally. Calyx 3-6 mm long; lobes 1 mm long, ± triangular, obtuse to subacute; margins shortly villous. Corolla 1.5-2.3 cm long, greenish yellow or pale brownish yellow; tube narrow-salverform, widening slightly above; lobes 3.5-6 mm long, narrow-triangular, patent, shortly villous inside and on margins, acute or short-acuminate. Fr. 7-10 × 6-8 mm, broad-ovoid to broad-ellipsoid, glossy, black or purplish black.
N.: N. Auckland (North Cape), Auckland area, especially Mangere and Manukau City.
Warm temperate S. America 1908
Occasional near gardens in scrub, waste places, stream banks, cultivation escape.
FL Nov-Jun.
Poisonous (Connor 1977).
Green cestrum is the hardiest spp. of the genus in cultivation and can survive being frosted almost to ground level, which means that it may be more likely to spread into colder areas. It is not often cultivated now. Although the corolla is normally 5-lobed (Fig. 111) as in the rest of the genus, some specimens have fls with 6-lobed corollas.
