OESTRUM AURANTIACUM. 
(Orange-coloured Cestrum, ) 
Class. Order. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
SOLANACE^J. 
Generic Character.— Calyx tubular and campanu- 
late, five-toothed. Corolla funnel-shaped, limb pli- 
cated, five-parted. Stamens inserted in the tube of 
the corolla, without teeth. Fruit a one-celled, few- 
seeded berry. 
Specific Character.— Deciduous shrub. Stem and 
branches smooth ; leaves petiolate, ovate, acute, undu- 
late on the margins ; flowers sessile, produced in axil- 
lary and terminal spikes. Calyx pale-green, five- 
toothed, acute ; corolla bright orange-yellow, funnel- 
shaped, contracted at the mouth of the tube; limb 
five-parted, much reflexed. Fruit a berry, pear-shaped. 
This beautiful deciduous greenhouse shrub is a native of Chimalapa, in Guatemala, 
where seeds of it were collected by Mr. Skinner, who presented them to the Horti- 
cultural 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 
specimen from which our drawing was made, was beautifully in flower during last 
September, in the fine collection of Sir G. Warrender, of Cleifden. 
The greater part of the species of Cestrum are stove plants ; but the present 
subject, C. acuminatum, C. undulatum, C. cauliflorum, 0. citriflorum, and C. venetatum 
grow in the greenhouse. The culture of the whole is very simple and easy. The 
stove species may be potted in any light sandy soil, or sandy heath mould and light 
loam mixed and partially broken. In the season of growth they require plenty of 
heat and moisture, but in the winter to be kept cool and rather dry. The only 
difference in the treatment of greenhouse species is in the temperature : during the 
summer turn them out of doors with other hardy greenhouse plants; they will then 
grow short-jointed and show abundance of flowers. C. aurantiacum is the only showy 
species yet introduced. 
The flowers of most of the Oestrums are highly fragrant, but the berries of several 
are fatally poisonous. Some are used in medicine, and others in the arts of life. 
Amongst the first may be mentioned the C. venetatum. The juice of the berries of 
this species is stated on good authority to be one of the ingredients in the formation 
