Cestrum aurantiacum Lindl., Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 15 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: huang hua ye xiang shu

English: orange cestrum, yellow cestrum

Hawaiian: mākāhala

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Large shrubs 3-4 m tall, sprawling, clambering, and suckering, sparsely pubescent with minute crisped hairs, soon glabrate.  Leaves simple, 5-10 cm long, 3.5-5 cm wide, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, base rounded to cuneate, petioles 1-3 cm long.  Flowers vespertine, sessile, 10-15 in axillary or terminal, subspicate inflorescences, often congested toward apex, most flowers subtended by a gract; calyx tubular, 5-8 mm long, the lobes linear, 1-3 mm long; corolla orangish yellow, the tube slightly inflated above, 1.7-2 cm long, the lobes broadly triangular, 5 mm long, inrolled during the day; stamens 5, inserted about middle of corolla tube; filaments with a bluntly conical, pubescent process at the point of insertion; anthers ca. 1.5 mm long; ovary glabrous, surrounded by a fleshy disk at base; style 1, erect, 15-16 mm long; stigma capitate, slightly exceeding anthers.  Berries white, succulent, 8-12 mm long, enclosed by calyx at base.  Seeds not seen"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1254).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed, probably spread by birds.

Native range:  Central America (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1254).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1254) Persisting and perhaps naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1254) Persisting and perhaps naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1254) Persisting and perhaps naturalized.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Guangdong.
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) San Luis Potosi, Chiapas [s.]
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 25) Cultivated only

Additional information:
Additional online information about Cestrum aurantiacum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cestrum aurantiacum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cestrum aurantiacum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).