Cestrum nocturnum
(night jessamine)

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Identity

Preferred Scientific Name

• Cestrum nocturnum L.

Preferred Common Name

• night jessamine

International Common Names

• English: lady of the night; night cestrum; night jasmine; night queen; night scented cestrum; night-blooming jasmine; night-flowering cestrum; night-flowering jasmine; night-jessamine; poisonberry; queen of the night
• Spanish: dama de la noche; dama de noche; galán de noche
• French: galant de nuit; jasmin de nuit
• Chinese: ye xiang shu
• Portuguese: dama-da-noite

Local Common Names

• : fafine o te po
• Cook Islands: ariki-va'ine; tiare ariki va'ine
• Cuba: cotí; fedora
• Dominican Republic: jazmin de noche; rufiana
• Fiji: ai pua e pogi; kara; thauthau; thauthau ni mbongi
• Germany: Nacht- Hammerstrauch
• Guam: dama di noche
• Haiti: jasmin caca chatte; jasmin nuit; lilas de nuit
• Japan: yakokwa
• Marshall Islands: jonoul ruo awa
• Myanmar: nya-hmwe-pan; saung-taw-ku
• Nicaragua: huele noche
• Niue: ike he po
• Samoa: ali'i o le po; ali'i o po; teine o le po
• Sweden: vit nattjasmin
• Tonga: laukau po'uli
• USA/Hawaii: 'ala aumoe; kupaoa; onaona lapana

EPPO code

• CEMNO (Cestrum nocturnum)

Summary of Invasiveness

C. nocturnum is a shrub or small tree listed as an “agricultural weed, cultivation escape, environmental weed, garden thug, naturalised, sleeper weed, weed” in the Global Compendium of Weeds (Randall, 2012). It poses a high risk of introduction due to its invasive traits which include reproducing profusely by seeds, which are small and easily transported through soil movement, flooding, and vegetation dumping (PIER, 2014); widespread distribution and naturalization beyond its native range; known toxicity to humans and animals; formation of dense thickets that crowd out native flora; and repeated introduction due to its popularity as an ornamental. The species is considered native to the Antilles and Central America, but is now widespread throughout both the Old and New World tropics and is known to be invasive to many places including Hawaii, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Western Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia, and New Zealand (Motooka et al, 2003; Randall, 2012; PIER, 2014; Wagner et al, 2014). 

Taxonomic Tree

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Solanales
•                         Family: Solanaceae
•                             Genus: Cestrum
•                                 Species: Cestrum nocturnum

Notes on Taxonomy and Nomenclature

Solanaceae, the Nightshade family, consists of 90 genera and 3000-4000 species with great variation in habit and distribution on all continents except Antarctica, with the majority of species diversity in Central and South America (PBI Solanum Project, 2014). This family includes some of the world’s most important crop plant species, including potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes, as well as some of the world’s deadliest plant species, including belladonna, jimsonweed, oleander, satans-apple, and henbane.

Comprising about 250 species, the genus Cestrum is native to tropical Central and South America, with major concentrations in Brazil and the Andean region. The genus name Cestrum is thought to derive from the Greek word ‘kestron’, for similarity to a plant of that name, or ‘kestrum’, a tool used for engraving which the plant’s anthers resemble (Motooka et al., 2003). Like several other members of the Cestrum genus, C. nocturnum is of Neotropical origin and is used as a hedge plant, ornamental, as well as for medicinal purposes. The species name ‘nocturnum’ refers to the species’ habit of opening its small, heavily-scented flowers at night.

Description

Shrubs or small trees 2-4 m tall; branches somewhat flexuous, sparsely pubescent with crisped, simple hairs and a few minute glandular hairs. Leaves lanceolate-elliptic, often 10 cm long, 4 cm wide, apex acuminate, base rounded or broadly cuneate, petioles 10-15 mm long. Flowers in spicate, often congested racemes, forming terminal leafy panicles; calyx campanulate, ca. 2.5 mm long, upper 1/3 divided into triangular lobes; corolla vespertine, strongly sweet-scented by night, greenish yellow, tubular, slender, slightly enlarged toward apex; stamens 5, inserted high in corolla tube; filaments with an erect process projecting below point of insertion, 3 mm long; anthers 0.5 mm long; ovary with an annular disk; style 1, 15-16 mm long; stigma shortly bifid, exceeding anthers. Berries white, hard or juicy, 8-10 mm in diameter. Seeds few, prismatic, outer face convex, inner faces concave, hilum scar elliptic, minutely reticulate (Wagner et al., 2014).

Plant Type

Distribution

C. nocturnum is considered native to the Americas, but has been cultivated for its strong-scented flowers and has become naturalized and even invasive in many parts of both the New and Old World tropics, especially the Pacific region (PIER, 2014; Wagner et al, 2014). It has been recorded as common throughout the Mesoamerican region (Gentry and D’Arcy, 1986). Previous records had reported the species as native only to South America (Pammel, 1911).

The species was listed as native to Cuba by PIER (2014) and USDA-ARS (2014), but as exotic by Acevedo-Rodriguez and Strong (2012), and was simply recorded as a cultivated species by Hanelt et al. (2001).

In the Old World tropics, the species is heavily represented in the Pacific region and known to be invasive to many islands (see Distribution table; PIER, 2014). It is reportedly cultivated in China and Singapore for ornamental purposes only (An-ming, 1986; Chong et al., 2009) and in India as a common ornamental cultivation (Deb, 1979).

The species is not listed in Wagner et al.’s (2014) flora of the Marquesas Islands, or the Forzza et al. (2010) work on Brazil.

The variety C. nocturnum var. mexicanum O.E. Schulz was reported for French Guyana by Funk et al. (2007) (as syn. Cestrummultiflorum Roem. & Schult.).

Distribution Table

The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

History of Introduction and Spread

C. nocturnum is native to Central America (Wagner et al., 2014), although some sources report the species to be native to the Antilles West Indies (Flora of Panama, 2014) and others as exotic (Broome et al., 2007; Acevedo-Rodriguez and Strong, 2012). If an introduction, the species was definitely present by the turn of the 20^th century. It was reported for Puerto Rico in 1881 by Bello Espinosa where he says that although common on the island it does not seem to be native there (Bello Espinosa, 1881), for the ‘Caribbean’ including Haiti and Jamaica in 1909 by Schulz, and for Bermuda by 1918 (Britton, 1918). It was not included among the Cestrum species in Urban’s work on the Antilles (1901). Early specimens of the species in the Smithsonian US National Herbarium include a specimen collected in Puerto Rico in 1885. It now grows in all parts of the world as an ornamental.

Risk of Introduction

Based on the current literature, risk of introduction for this species is very high. In a risk assessment prepared for Hawaii, C. nocturnum received a high risk score of 17 (score over 6=reject for import, species likely to become a major pest) (PIER, 2014). Not only does it reproduce profusely by seeds, but it is repeatedly introduced outside of its native range due to its continued popularity as an ornamental. It is known to be toxic to both humans and animals, but is used in traditional medicine (USDA-ARS, 2014). The species is known as an aggressive colonizer of disturbed areas, and is capable of forming dense impenetrable thickets in the undergrowth of some forest systems, possibly displacing other plant species and altering natural successional processes (ISSG, 2014). Other invasive traits include its broad climatic suitability and reported invasiveness, especially in Pacific Islands and warm, wet climates (PIER, 2014).

Habitat

C. nocturnum thrives in moist or wet forests including riparian zones, secondary forests and dense lowland forests, scrub, as well as open areas, both natural and disturbed, and is commonly cultivated in gardens (ISSG, 2014). In Fiji, the species is both cultivated in settled areas and naturalized in thickets and open forest, and in New Caledonia, it is a common garden escape (PIER, 2014). The species is reportedly naturalized on coastal districts of central and northern New South Wales (Weeds of Australia, 2014). In Nicaragua, it is widespread in dry to humid forests (Flora of Nicaragua, 2014). In Panama it has been observed growing along edges of rivers and railways and adjacent rain forest (Flora of Panama, 2014). The species is also known as an aggressive invader of disturbed sites including trailsides, forest gaps and landslides (ISSG, 2014).

Habitat List

Biology and Ecology

Genetics

2n=16 (Wagner et al., 2014).

Reproductive Biology

Seeds are few and encased in white berries 8-10 mm in diameter (Wagner et al., 2014). They are produced after 18 months of establishment and can remain dormant in the soil for many years (ISSG, 2014). The species also propagates readily through cuttings of roots or stems (Floridata, 2014; ISSG, 2014).

Environmental Requirements

C. nocturnum thrives in light, sandy soil and can adapt to a variety of soil types and conditions, but has low salt and waterlogging tolerance. It does best under full sun but tolerates light shade (Floridata, 2014; IFAS, 2014).

C. nocturnum occurs at low-to-mid elevations. In Nicaragua the species occurs between 40 and 1000 m (Flora of Nicaragua, 2014). In Antioquia, Colombia, the species has been reported for elevations of 1000-1500 m (Vascular Plants of Antioquia, 2014), and similarly in Madagascar, where the species lives in humid to submuhid bioclimate, the species occurs between 1500 and 1999 m (Madagascar Catalogue, 2014). In Panama, the species has been observed both at elevations below 100 m and above 2500 m (Flora of Panama, 2014).

Climate

Soil Tolerances

Soil drainage

• free

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Pathway Causes

Pathway Vectors

Impact Summary

Economic Impact

Although a popular ornamental for its fragrant, showy flowers, the species can have a negative impact on human and animal health due to the toxic alkaloids its parts contain; all parts of Cestrum species, including C. nocturnum, have been reported as poisonous and capable of resulting in the death of livestock in New Zealand, although there have been no reports of human deaths (ISSG, 2014). The species’ escape from cultivation would pose a health threat to both humans and animals who may accidentally ingest it.

Environmental Impact

C. nocturnum has a negative impact on native ecosystems, as it forms dense, shady thickets that outcompete native flora and prevent natural regeneration. It grows quickly and reproduces by both cuttings and seeds (Floridata, 2014). The species is thought to be one of the invasive species that competed with Acalypha wilderi, a rare endemic species of the Rarotonga Islands, driving it to possible extinction (ISSG, 2014).

Risk and Impact Factors

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Tolerant of shade
• Highly mobile locally
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year

• Damaged ecosystem services
• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Monoculture formation
• Negatively impacts human health
• Negatively impacts animal health
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of endangered species
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Causes allergic responses
• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Uses

C. nocturnum is a popular ornamental due to its showy and fragrant white flowers, and has for this reason been introduced around the world. It is also used as a hedge plant and cultivated as a medicinal plant (Hanelt et al., 2001).

Uses List

Environmental

• Boundary, barrier or support

General

• Botanical garden/zoo
• Ornamental

Materials

• Poisonous to mammals

Medicinal, pharmaceutical

• Traditional/folklore

Ornamental

• Potted plant

Prevention and Control

Physical/Mechanical control

Small plants and seedlings can be hand pulled all year round and left on site to rot down; since stems can resprout and reinfestation can occur through the seed bank, cleared sites should be replanted to prevent regrowth (ISSG, 2014).

Chemical Control

Cutting and painting the cut surface with a herbicide solution can be done all year round (ISSG, 2014). Kökeÿe Museum staff have reported good control of the species with triclopyr ester at 20% in crop oil applied to basal bark, and the species may be sensitive to foliar applications of triclopyr (Motooka et al., 2003).

Gaps in Knowledge/Research Needs

Further research on the extent of C. nocturnum’s environmental impact is needed, especially as this species possesses many high-risk invasive traits and may have already contributed to the extinction of another species (ISSG, 2014). The species was not, for example, included in the National Plant Pest Accord of New Zealand primarily due to a lack of information on current distribution and potential effects (ISSG, 2014). Other areas of recommended research are the prevention of cultivation escape and effectiveness of current control methods.

References

Acevedo-Rodríguez P, Strong MT, 2012. Catalogue of the Seed Plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, 98:1192 pp. Washington DC, USA: Smithsonian Institution. http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/WestIndies/catalog.htm

An-ming L, 1986. Solanaceae in China. In: Solanaceae: Biology and Systematics. Papers from the International Symposium on the Biology and Systematics of the Solanaceae [ed. by D'Arcy, W. G.]. New York, USA: Columbia University Press, 79-85

Bello Espinosa D, 1881. [English title not available]. (Apuntes para la flora de Puerto Rico. Primera parte.) Anal. Soc. Española de Hist. Nat, 10:231-304

Britton NL, 1918. Flora of Bermuda. New York, USA: Charles Scribner's Sons. 585 pp

Broome R, Sabir K, Carrington S, 2007. Plants of the Eastern Caribbean. Online database. Barbados: University of the West Indies. http://ecflora.cavehill.uwi.edu/index.html

Chong KY, Tan HTW, Corlett RT, 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Singapore: Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore, 273 pp. http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/nus/pdf/PUBLICATION/LKCNH%20Museum%20Books/LKCNHM%20Books/flora_of_singapore_tc.pdf

Deb DB, 1979. Solanaceae in India. In: The Biology and taxonomy of the Solanaceae [ed. by Hawkes, J. G. \Lester, R. N. \Skelding, A. D.]. London, UK: Academic Press, 87-112

Flora Mesoamericana, 2014. Flora Mesoamericana. St. Louis, Missouri, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden. http://www.tropicos.org/Project/FM

Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2014. Flora of China. St. Louis, Missouri and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University Herbaria. http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=2

Flora of Nicaragua, 2014. Flora of Nicaragua, Tropicos website. St. Louis, Missouri and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University Herbaria. http://tropicos.org/NameSearch.aspx?projectid=7

Flora of Pakistan, 2014. Flora of Pakistan/Pakistan Plant Database (PPD). Tropicos website St. Louis, Missouri and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University Herbaria. http://www.tropicos.org/Project/Pakistan

Flora of Panama, 2014. Flora of Panama (WFO), Tropicos website. St. Louis, MO and Cambridge, MA, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University Herbaria. http://www.tropicos.org/Project/FOPWFO

Floridata, 2014. FLORIDATAbase website. Tallahassee, Florida, USA: Floridata.com. http://www.floridata.com/

Forzza R, 2010. List of species of the Flora of Brazil (Lista de espécies Flora do Brasil). http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2012/

Funk V, Hollowell T, Berry P, Kelloff C, Alexander SN, 2007. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, 584 pp

Gentry Jr JL, D'Arcy WG, 1986. Solanaceae of Mesoamerica. In: Solanaceae: Biology and Systematics. Papers from the International Symposium on the Biology and Systematics of the Solanaceae [ed. by D'Arcy, W. G.]. New York, USA: Columbia University Press, 15-26

Hanelt P, Buttner R, Mansfeld R, 2001. Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (except Ornamentals). Berlin, Germany: Springer

IFAS, 2014. Cestrum nocturnum L. Cestrum nocturnum L., USA: Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), University of Florida. http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Cestrum_Nocturnum.pdf

ISSG, 2014. Global Invasive Species Database (GISD). Invasive Species Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/

Kress WJ, Defilipps RA, Farr E, Kyi DYY, 2003. A checklist of the trees, shrubs, herbs, and climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, 45:1-590

Madagascar Catalogue, 2014. Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar. St. Louis, Missouri, USA and Antananarivo, Madagascar: Missouri Botanical Garden. http://www.tropicos.org/project/mada

Merrill ED, 1923. An Enumeration of Philippine Flowering Plants. Vol. 2. Manila, Philippines: Bureau of printing. http://www.forgottenbooks.org/books/An_Enumeration_of_Philippine_Flowering_Plants_v2_1000888542

Motooka P, Castro L, Nelson D, Nagai G, Ching L, 2003. Weeds of Hawaii's Pastures and Natural Areas; an identification and management guide. Manoa, Hawaii, USA: College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii

Pammel LH, 1911. A manual of poisonous plants, chiefly of eastern North America: With brief notes on economic and medicinal plants, and numerous illustrations. Iowa, USA: Torch Press

PBI Solanum Project, 2014. Solanaceae Source website., USA: Planetary Biodiversity Inventories (PBI), National Science Foundation. http://www.solanaceaesource.org/

PIER, 2014. Pacific Islands Ecosystems at Risk. Honolulu, USA: HEAR, University of Hawaii. http://www.hear.org/pier/index.html

Randall RP, 2012. A Global Compendium of Weeds. Perth, Australia: Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, 1124 pp. http://www.cabi.org/isc/FullTextPDF/2013/20133109119.pdf

Schulz OE, 1909. Solanacearum genera nonnulla. In: Symbolae antillanae seu fundamenta florae Indiae occidentalis, vol. 6, parts 1-2 [ed. by Urban, I.]. Berlin, Germany: Borntraeger, 140-279

Urban I, 1901. Symbolae Antillanae. Volumen II. Lipsiae, Germany: Fratres Borntraeger, 860 pp

USDA-ARS, 2014. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online Database. Beltsville, Maryland, USA: National Germplasm Resources Laboratory. https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearch.aspx

USDA-NRCS, 2014. The PLANTS Database. Baton Rouge, USA: National Plant Data Center. http://plants.usda.gov/

Vascular Plants of Antioquia, 2014. Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of the Department of Antioquia (Colombia), Tropicos website. St. Louis, Missouri and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University Herbaria. http://tropicos.org/Project/CV

Vascular Plants of Ecuador, 2014. Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador, Tropicos website. St. Louis, Missouri and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University Herbaria. http://tropicos.org/Project/CE

Wagner WL, Herbst DR, Lorence DH, 2014. Flora of the Hawaiian Islands website. Washington DC, USA: Smithsonian Institution,. http://botany.si.edu/pacificislandbiodiversity/hawaiianflora/index.htm

Wagner WL, Lorence DH, 2014. Flora of the Marquesas Islands website. Washington DC, USA: Smithsonian Institution. http://botany.si.edu/pacificislandbiodiversity/marquesasflora/index.htm

Weeds of Australia, 2014. Factsheet for Night Jessamine- Cestrum nocturnum. Queensland, Australia: Biosecurity Queensland. http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/03030800-0b07-490a-8d04-0605030c0f01/media/Html/Cestrum_nocturnum.htm

Witt, A., Luke, Q., 2017. Guide to the naturalized and invasive plants of Eastern Africa, [ed. by Witt, A., Luke, Q.]. Wallingford, UK: CABI.vi + 601 pp. http://www.cabi.org/cabebooks/ebook/20173158959 doi:10.1079/9781786392145.0000

Links to Websites

Contributors

24/2/2014 Original text by:

Marianne Jennifer Datiles, Department of Botany-Smithsonian NMNH, Washington DC, USA

Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, Department of Botany-Smithsonian NMNH, Washington DC, USA

Distribution Maps