Cestrum nocturnum

Common Name: nightflowering jessamine

Family: Solanaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8b - 11

Growth Habit: Shrub

Origin: Tropical America and Cuba

FISC Category: -

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: specimen vouchered in 1972

IFAS Assessment:

North: INVASIVE
Central: INVASIVE
South: INVASIVE

Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org

Description

Shrub to 5 m tall. Leaves stalked, ovate-oblong and 7-20 cm long. Fragrant greenish-white flowers in clusters, bloom at night. Fruit a small white berry 8-10 mm long.

Habitat

Disturbed uplands

Comments

Common landscape species know to be invasive in tropical areas. Vouchered from Monroe, Lee, and Tampa Bay area. Seeds dispersed by birds and plant reproduces vegetatively.

Control Methods

Manual: Mechanical: Hand pull small plants (ISSG)
Chemical: Basal bark (20% triclopyr ester, ISSG), cut-stump (triclopyr amine, ISSG)
Biological: NA

Control Notes

References

Dave's Garden. 2013. PlantFiles: Night blooming jasmine, Night scented jessamine, Queen of the night, Cestrum nocturnum. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2128/. Accessed on December 3, 2013.

ISSG. 2010. Global Invasive Species Database: Cestrum nocturnum. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=851. Accessed on December 3, 2013.