Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Cestrum aurantiacum Lindl.

Frost tender evergreen shrub with arching branches, ovate to lance-shaped leaves and axillary and terminal panicle-like cymes of tubular bright orange flowers in spring and summer.  To 3m.  [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘This beautiful deciduous greenhouse shrub is a native of Chimalapa, in Guatamala, where seeds of it were collected by Mr. Skinner, who presented them to the Horticultural Society.  When in flower the plant is a very striking object; the blossoms are produced in great profusion, and have a delicious fragrance.  Their colour is a very bright orange.  In winter, when the branches are divested of leaves, a number of white pear-shaped berries make the plant still an object of attraction. […] The flowers of most of the Cestrums are fragrant, but the berries of several are fatally poisonous.  Some are used in medicine, and others in the arts of life.’  [MB p.77/1847]. 

Introduced to Europe in 1842.  [JD].  ‘It flowered in the Chiswick Garden in August. 1844.  The flowers are not only beautiful, but they last for a long time, and breathe a very pleasant perfume of orange-peel.’  [BR f.22/1845].  OFG f.85/1854.  FS p.79 vol.1/1845.

History at Camden Park

Listed only in the 1857 catalogue [T.306/1857].  Naturalised in parts of Australia including NSW north from Nowra [FNSW].

Notes

Cestrum aurantiacum Mey. ex Steud. (1840) = Freylinia cestroides Colla, a tall South African shrub with fragrant, creamy-white flowers, introduced to Britain in 1774.  [RHSD].

Published Feb 27, 2010 - 02:51 PM | Last updated Feb 27, 2010 - 02:56 PM

Figured are ovate-lanceolate leaves and terminal panicles of tubular orange flowers.  Botanical Register f.22, 1845.

Cestrum aurantiacum Lindl. | BR f.22/1845 | RBGS

Family Solanaceae
Category
Region of origin

Central and South America

Synonyms
Common Name

Orange Cestrum

Name in the Camden Park Record

Cestrum aurantiacum 

Confidence level high