Top

Scientific Name
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Other Impacts
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
Print Fact Sheet
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYXZ

Click on images to enlarge

infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

flower buds (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

flower cluster (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

pale yellow flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

bright yellow flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

clusters of immature and mature fruit (Photo: Land Protection, QDNRW)

close-up of mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

young plant growing from a root sucker (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

stem and alternately arranged leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

the very similar night jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum), with more slender pale yellow flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

the white mature fruit of Cestrum nocturnum (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

Cestrum parqui

Scientific Name

Cestrum parqui L’Hér.

Family

Solanaceae

Common Names

cestrum, Chilean cestrum, Chilean flowering jessamine, Chilean jessamine, green cestrum, green poison berry, green poison-berry, green poisonberry, iodine bush, willow jasmine, willow leaved jessamine, willow-leaf jessamine, willow-leaved jasmine, willow-leaved jessamine

Origin

Native to South America (i.e. Brazil, Bolivia, northern and central Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern and central Argentina).

Cultivation

This species has been widely cultivated in gardens as an ornamental. Though it is no longer a popular garden plant, it may still be present in old gardens.

Naturalised Distribution

A very widespread species that is most common in the south-eastern and eastern parts of Australia. It is very common in the coastal and sub-coastal regions of southern Queensland and eastern New South Wales. Relatively common in Victoria and central Queensland and scattered in south-eastern South Australia. Also collected near Perth in south-western Western Australia, but this may be from cultivated plants.

Naturalised overseas in New Zealand and some parts of southern USA (i.e. California and Texas).

Habitat

A weed of warmer temperate and sub-tropical regions that invades the margins of watercourses (i.e. riparian habitats) and is also found in parks, old gardens, waste areas, disturbed sites, open woodlands, forest margins, pastures and along roadsides.

Habit

An upright (i.e. erect), much-branched, shrub usually growing 1-3 m tall, but occasionally reaching up to 5 m in height. It tends to form clumps and spread via suckers.

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The young shoots are often finely hairy (i.e. puberulent) and greenish in colour, while the newer stems are whitish and become hairless (i.e. glabrous) as the age. Older stems become woody and have a mottled grey appearance, and they sometimes also developed a striated bark at the base of mature plants.

The leaves are alternately arranged and are borne on short stalks (i.e. petioles) 3-12 mm long. The leaf blades (2-14 cm long and 5-40 mm wide) are narrowly egg-shaped in outline (i.e. narrowly ovate) or elongated (i.e. lanceolate) in shape. They are finely hairy (i.e. puberulent) when young, but become hairless (i.e. glabrous) as they mature. The leaves have a pointed tip (i.e. acute or acuminate apex) and their margins are entire, but often have a wavy (i.e. undulating) appearance. The stems and leaves of this species give off an unpleasant odour when crushed or bruised.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers are borne in branched clusters at the tips of the branches (i.e. in terminal panicles). Each flower is borne on a very short stalk (i.e. pedicel) about 0.5 mm long (i.e. the flowers are sub-sessile). They have yellow or greenish-yellow petals (turning brownish-yellow with age) that are fused into a long tube (12-25 mm long and 3-5 mm wide) with five triangular lobes (3-6 mm long) at the tip. The flowers that are borne near the base of these clusters may have thin (i.e. linear) bracts below them. Flowering occurs throughout the year, but is particularly abundant during spring.

The fruit are egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid) or oval (i.e. ellipsoid) berries (10-15 mm long and 6-10 mm wide). These fruit are green when young and turn glossy black or purplish-black as they mature. Each berry contains a few prism-shaped seeds (3-4 mm long) that are dark green or brownish in colour.

Reproduction and Dispersal

This plant reproduces mostly by seed, but also spreads vegetatively via root suckers.

The seeds are mostly dispersed by birds and other animals, but are sometimes also spread by water or in dumped garden waste. It can also regenerate from root pieces that are dislodged during cultivation or roadside maintenance.

Environmental Impact

Green cestrum (Cestrum parqui) is regarded as significant environmental weed in New South Wales and Queensland. It is currently listed as a priority environmental weed in three Natural Resource Management regions, and is also regarded as a sleeper weed in other parts of the country. In New South Wales it is of most concern on the north coast and in the wider Sydney and Blue Mountains region. In Queensland it is listed in the top 100 invasive plants in the south-eastern part of the state. It is also scattered in bushland around Adelaide and causing some concern in the warmer regions of Victoria.

Green cestrum (Cestrum parqui) grows vigorously and has been known to outcompete other vegetation on alluvial floodplains in Queensland. It has also formed reasonably dense infestations along degraded creek-banks and in overgrazed pastures. As it can form extensive stands along the edges of forests and waterways, it replaces indigenous plants in these habitats and prevents their regeneration.

Other Impacts

The roots, stems, leaves and fruit of green cestrum (Cestrum parqui) are very toxic to livestock, domestic animals and humans, and stock losses have been reported.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Green cestrum (Cestrum parqui) may sometimes be confused with orange cestrum (Cestrum aurantiacum), night jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum) and red cestrum (Cestrum elegans). It also has similar flowers to tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca). These species can be distinguished by the following differences:

It may also be confused with some native plants when not in flower. However, its leaves give off a distinctive unpleasant odour when crushed.