Cestrum nocturnum Seeds | Night-blooming Jasmine
LATIN NAME: Cestrum nocturnum
COMMON NAME: Night-Blooming Jasmine
Plant Profile
Night-Blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) is an evergreen shrub of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), native to the West Indies and Central America and planted throughout the tropics. It grows 2-4 m tall, with glossy leaves and clusters of slender, greenish-white, tube-shaped flowers that release an overpowering sweetness after dark. It is no true jasmine, but few plants perfume a night garden so strongly.
Science & Biotechnology
Within the nightshade family, Cestrum nocturnum is of continuing interest to researchers working on plant diversity, seed biology and the selection of improved garden forms. Evening fragrance of night-blooming jasmine gives it a recognised place in research on night-scented garden plants of nightshade family, and nocturnum species appears in studies of floral scent chemistry and night-opening habit. From a research perspective, species of this kind are valuable material for work on propagation and on the selection of uniform lines.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Night-Blooming Jasmine has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. In warm evening garden, night-blooming jasmine scents evening garden with sweet, pale flowers. Blooms perfume night air, berries feed birds, and shrub makes fine tub plant for the patio. It grows well in rich, moist, well-drained, sunny or lightly shaded ground. Once settled, it thrives on neglect more than on fussing.
Cestrums are fragrant tropical shrubs grown for their night perfume; several are toxic, so they are ornamentals only.
Growing from Seed
Starting Night-Blooming Jasmine from seed is simple and satisfying. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
It is a solid representative of the Cestrum group, true to type from seed. Established seedlings need little beyond ordinary attention.
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