Species
Cestrum elegans
Etymology
elegans: elegant
Common Name(s)
red cestrum
Family
Solanaceae
Flora Category
Vascular - Exotic
Structural Class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Features
Shrub 2-4 high; shoots and petioles densely covered in purplish hairs. Petiole to 2cm long. Lamina 4-10x1.5-5cm (to at least 16 x 7 cm on vegetative shoots), ovate, elliptic or lanceolate, hairy, densely so beneath; base cuneate to rounded; apex actue or short-acuminate. Infl. paniculate, dense; branches purple, hairy; fls subsessile to shortly pedicellate, scentless. Calyx c. 7mm long, purple, usually glabrous outside; teeth 1-4mm long, triangular, acute or short-acuminate, +/- ciliate. Corolla 1.8-2.5 cm long, rosy magenta to deep crimson; tube funnelform with narrow-cylindric base and constricted apex, glabrous, shining; lobes 1-3mm long, +/- hairy outside, glabrous inside, short-acuminate. Fr. apparently uncommon, to 2x1.5cm, obovoid, glossy crimson. (Webb.et.al.1988)
Similar Taxa
Corolla tube glabrose outside, rosy magenta or deep rose.
Flowering
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Flower Colours
Red / Pink,Violet / Purple
Year Naturalised
1958
Origin
Mexico
Reason For Introduction
Ornamental
Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.
This page last updated on 18 Jan 2010