Cestrum

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Cestrum
Cestrum elegans flowers
Cestrum elegans flowers
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Cestrum
L.

Species
See text

Cestrum is a genus of between 150-250 species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States (Florida, Texas; C. diurnum) south to central Chile (Bío-Bío Region; C. parqui).

They are shrubs growing to 1-4 m tall, mostly evergreen, a few deciduous. All parts of the plants are toxic, causing severe gastroenteritis if eaten.

Selected species

Synonyms of Cestrum include Fregirardia, Habrothamnus, Meyenia, Parqui, and Wadea.

Cultivation and uses

Several species are grown as ornamental plants for their strongly scented flowers.

Some are invasive species, notably C. parqui in Australia, where it can cause serious losses to livestock, which eat the leaves (particularly of drying broken branches) unaware of their toxicity [1].

References

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