Cestrum parqui

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Cestrum parqui
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Cestrum
Species:
C. parqui
Binomial name
Cestrum parqui
L'Hér.

Cestrum parqui, commonly known as palqui, green cestrum, Chilean cestrum, green poisonberry,[1] or willow-leaved jessamine,[2] is a species of flowering plant native to Chile.

In cultivation in the United Kingdom this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit[2] (confirmed 2017).[3] In Australia, the plant is regarded as a invasive species.

Description

C. parqui is a fast-growing, straggling, woody,

semi-evergreen shrub that grows over 3 metres tall (or more in warmer areas) with one or a few fragile green stems. The alternate, light green leaves have an unpleasant rubber-like smell when crushed. In areas with cool winters, the plant is partly deciduous.[1]

It produces terminal sprays of small, pungent-scented,

berries produced from summer to autumn. All parts of the plant are reported to be highly toxic.[5] The flowers have an unpleasant odor during the day, but are fragrant (sweet-scented) at night.[6][7][8] The plant flowers throughout the year (particularly in warmer climates), more so from spring to autumn,[1] but the blooming is more prolific during spring.[9]

The small, black fruits of Cestrum parqui are highly attractive to birds, which play a major role in seed dispersal, passing the seeds in their droppings: seedlings are thus often found growing under perching trees, along fencelines, and in creek banks, where it is also dispersed by water.[5]

Uses

Medicinal

The plant contains toxic

haemorrhoids and possesses sudorific (perspiration-inducing), laxative and antispasmodic properties. Decoctions or infusions of the plant have also been administered in cases of intermittent fever
and an infusion of the inner bark drunk to treat unspecified "stomach ailments".

Stem and leaves of C. parqui

A

oedema.[11]

Tobacco substitute

Carl Hartwich, in his monumental work on recreational drugs of 1911 Die Menschlichen Genussmittel... ('The Pleasure Drugs of Humankind...'), records the following:

On the island of

Chiloe, when there is a lack of tobacco, the Cholos Indians replace it with another Solanacea Palguin or Palquin, which they apparently smoked before the first [i.e. tobacco derived from various Nicotiana species] became known. The plant, Cestrum parqui L'Her., a small tree with lanceolate leaves and yellowish-white flowers, appears to be widespread in South America, it is found throughout Chile and the southern states of Brazil. In Chile they say of a well-known person: 'He is as famous as Palqui'. The leaves (which are toxic to cattle) and the wood are used medicinally. I was able to detect a trace of alkaloid in the latter. [translated from the original German][12]

Ritualistic

Branches of Cestrum parqui are used to slap patients during

Huilliche people of the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile. This is due to the belief that the foul smell of the Cestrum plant is abhorrent to the demons believed to be causing the patient's illness and will cause them to leave the patient's body via vomiting.[13]

Invasiveness

Growing as a weed

Because of its easy dispersal, it is considered to be a

garden escape, it may still be found in old gardens.[15]

It was introduced as an ornamental plant and was naturalized in Australia in the 1920s, where it was recorded in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in 1924 and naturalised at Ashgrove in 1926. By 1928, the species was blamed for livestock deaths in Brisbane's southern suburbs. Therefore, in 1933, it was declared a noxious weed in Queensland, whilst simultaneously becoming established in New South Wales. Cattle fatalities continued in the states of QLD and NSW throughout the 1940s and 1950s. It became naturalized in Victoria in the early 1940s, where it was observed in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges in 1980, although the species is relatively rare in that state.[1][16]

Gallery

  • Specimen flowering in Royal Botanic Garden, Madrid
    Specimen flowering in Royal Botanic Garden, Madrid
  • Close-up of willow-like leaves and greenish flowers
    Close-up of willow-like leaves and greenish flowers
  • Flowers
    Flowers
  • Flowerhead
    Flowerhead

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Green Poisonberry, Green Cestrum, Chilean Cestrum, Black Nightshade, Chilean Cestrum, Willow Leaved Jessamine Weeds Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "RHS Plantfinder - Cestrum parqui". Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. ^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. ^ Cestrum parqui Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Weeds of Australia: Biosecurity Queensland Edition". Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Green cestrum". Queensland Government. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Chilean cestrum". Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Green Cestrum Cestrum parqui" (PDF). Sydney Weeds Committees. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Cestrum parqui L'Hér". Environmental Weeds of Australia. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  10. ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2012). CRC World dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms and etymology, pub. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group. Vol. II C-D, page 201.
  11. S2CID 22899396
    .
  12. ^ Hartwich, Carl, Die Menschlichen Genussmittel, ihre herkunft, verbreitung, geschichte, anwendung, bestandteile und wirkung (Translation: The Pleasure-drugs of Mankind – their origins, spread, history, application, ingredients and effects), pub. Leipzig 1911 Chr. Herm. Tauchnitz. Page 523 under heading 4: 'Cestrum parqui L'Her.'.
  13. ^ Plowman, Timothy, Gyllenhaal, Lars Olof and Lindgren, Jan Erik Latua pubiflora magic plant from southern Chile Botanical Museum Leaflets Harvard University Vol. 23, No. 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 12, 1971.
  14. ^ Green cestrum (Cestrum parqui) by NSW WeedWise
  15. ^ Cestrum parqui L’Hér. Environmental Weeds. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  16. ^ Green Cestrum (Cestrum parqui) Weeds of Melbourne. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

External links

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