Nyctanthes

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Nyctanthes >

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Nyctanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to southeastern Asia. It is currently accepted as containing two species; other species previously included in this genus have been transferred to other genera, most of them to Jasminum.

They are shrubs or small trees growing to 10 m tall, with flaky bark. The leaves are opposite, simple. The flowers are produced in small clusters of two to seven together. The fruit is a two-parted capsule, with a single seed in each part.

Read about Nyctanthes in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Nyctanthes (night flower: blooms toward night and fls. fall at morning). Oleaceae,, One species, a small tree or shrub of India but now spontaneous in some other countries, sometimes planted in warm regions or grown under glass for its numerous white very fragrant flowers. The species is N. Arbor-tristis, Linn., literally the "tree of sadness" because it blooms only at night; it is also known as the "night jasmine.” Nyctanthes is much like Jasminum and some of the early names belong under that genus; it differs in its capsular fr. Lvs. opposite, ovate, cordate, short-stalked, entire or dentate, scabrous: branches 4-angled: fls. few in a sessile involucrate cluster or head, which are disposed in dichotomous cymes; corolla whitish, the tube orange, salverform, the lobes 4-8; stamens (anthers) 2. nearly sessile near the top of the tube; ovary 2-cclled, the style short and stigma 2-Iobed: caps, roundish, ¾ in. long, with one erect seed in each of the 2 colls. B.M. 4900. B.R. 399.—It is an interesting plant, but little grown in our territory; blooms in summer; prop, by firm cuttings in sand with bottom heat. Reaches 30 ft. in India. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Species

• Nyctanthes aculeata Craib –
• Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L. (syn. N. dentata Blume)
• Nyctanthes arbor-tristis - (Night-flowering Jasmine or "Sad Tree") is the most well-known species, and is also the type species of the genus. The name Nyctanthes means "night flowering".

Gallery

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  A Nyctanthes trunk from India

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  A Nyctanthes leaf from India

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  photo 1

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  photo 3

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Nyctanthes. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Nyctanthes QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)