Cestrum elegans
NPPA pest plant
Common name
red cestrum
Family
Solanaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Conservation status
Not applicable
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
Life cycle
Perennial.
Year naturalised
1958
Origin
Mexico
Reason for introduction
Ornamental.
Etymology
elegans: Elegant
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.