Tabernaemontana

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Features:	✓	flowers, foliage

Scientific Names

Apocynaceae >

Tabernaemontana >

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Read about Tabernaemontana in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Tabernaemontana (named for J. T. Tabernaemontanus of Heidelberg, physician and botanist; died 1590). Apocynaceae. Evergreen usually glabrous trees or shrubs, grown in the warmhouse. Leaves opposite, thin or leathery: cymes rather branched, terminal or dichotomously arranged: fls. white or yellowish, small or rather large; calyx usually short, deeply or to the middle 5-lobed or -parted; corolla salver-shaped, tube cylindrical, lobes twisted; disk various; ovary with 2 distinct carpels: berries or follicles 2, globose, oblong, ovoid or recurved-reniform, smooth or 3-ribbed. —About 160 species, widely distributed throughout the tropics. See Gonioma for distinctions from that genus. The East Indian rosebay, T. coronaria, is one of the best ornamental shrubs for subtropical gardens. This species and T. Camassi, referred in this work to Gonioma, nourish everywhere in Florida from Jacksonville southward. If they receive proper attention, tiny cuttings soon develop into dense, bushy plants 3 to 5 feet high, covered with deliciously scented flowers throughout the summer. Indeed the plants are so densely covered with buds and flowers that it is often difficult to find a sufficient supply of cuttings for propagation. T. coronaria has larger leaves than T. Camassi and the flowers are much like those of the double white oleander, while T. Camassi has solider and smaller blossoms. Both do well under the same treatment. In order to enjoy the beauty of the East Indian rosebay to its fullest extent, it must be planted in rich, sandy soil, not too wet and not too dry, and in places fully exposed to the sun. Only very strong pot-grown plants should be set out in the garden. This should be done during the rainy season. Avoid breaking the ball in transplanting. It is useless to transplant in November, the time when most evergreens and other plants are most successfully set out. The plants at this season have no time to become established before the first sharp frost comes, and a weakened tabernaemontana is usually killed outright by even a slight frost. Just before Christmas all the plants of this nature (bauhinias, cestrums; Poinciana regia, Tristania conferta, grevilleas, eucalypti, and so on) are banked about 18 inches to 2 feet high with dry sand, and they always come through without much damage. In April or even earlier, the banking is taken away and the plants cut back to sound wood. The tabernaemontanas look best in groups by themselves or in front of other glossy leaved evergreens. T. Camassi, Regel. See Gonioma Kamassi.—T. dichotoma, Roxbg. (Cerbera dichotoma, Lodd.). About 6 ft. high: lvs. oblong, acute at base, obtuse at apex, 2 1/2 - 5 in. long: cymes terminal, dichotomously branched, many-fld.; fls. slightly odorous, 1 in. long. India. B.R. 27:53. L.B.C.16:1516. H.W. 3, p. 259.—T. grandifolia, Hort., is listed in the American trade, presumably an error for T. grandiflora. 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.

? Tabernaemontana
Tabernaemontana persicariaefolia
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Apocynaceae Genus: Tabernaemontana
Species
About 100-110 species; see text

Tabernaemontana is a genus of 100-110 species of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, with a pan-tropical distribution. They are shrubs and small trees growing to 1-15 m tall. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 3-25 cm long, with milky sap. The flowers are fragrant, white, 1-5 cm diameter.

Some members of the genus Tabernaemontana are used as additives to some versions of the psychedelic drink Ayahuasca.

Ervatamia is one of the many synonyms for the genus.

Selected species

• Tabernaemontana africana. Africa.
• Tabernaemontana alba (White Milkwood). Central America.
• Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia. Southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America.
• Tabernaemontana bovina. Southern China to Thailand.
• Tabernaemontana bufalina. Southern China to Thailand.
• Tabernaemontana calcarea. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana capuronii. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana catharinensis. Western South America.
• Tabernaemontana ciliata. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana citrifolia (Milkwood). Caribbean.
• Tabernaemontana coffeoides. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana corymbosa. Southeast Asia.
• Tabernaemontana crassa. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana crassifolia. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana cymosa. Western South America.
• Tabernaemontana debrayi. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana divaricata (Nero's Crown or Pinwheel Flower). Northern India to Thailand.
• Tabernaemontana elegans (Toad Tree). South Africa north to Somalia.
• Tabernaemontana eusepala. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana eusepaloides. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana heyneana. India.
• Tabernaemontana humblotii. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana mocquerysii. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana pachysiphon. Tropical east Africa.
• Tabernaemontana pandacaqui. Southeast Asia, Australasia, western Pacific Ocean islands.
• Tabernaemontana phymata. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana retusa. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana rostrata. Southeast Asia.
• Tabernaemontana sambiranensis. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana sananho. Northern South America.
• Tabernaemontana sessilifolia. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana siphilitica. Northern South America.
• Tabernaemontana stellata. Madagascar.
• Tabernaemontana ventricosa (Forest Toad Tree). Cameroon, South Africa.

Cultivation

The cultivar T. divaricata 'Plena', with doubled-petaled flowers, is a popular houseplant.

See also

• Psychedelic plants