Family: Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)
Native range: West Indies and tropical America.
Description: A shrub to 12 feet or more with evergreen, glossy, 5-inch long, lance-shaped, light-green leaves with a pale midrib. Narrow, tubular, white flowers are produced in clusters and are heavily fragrant in daytime. Round, 3/8-inch fruit are violet at first but turn black at maturity.
Ecological threat: Day jessamine is a weedy shrub that invades open, disturbed sites but may also be found along hardwood forest margins, in overgrown pine rockland, and along trails through natural areas. It is fast-growing and can form large populations if left unchecked. Fruit production is high and ingestion of the fruit in quantity has caused grave poisoning to children and animals in Florida. The fruit, however, are eaten by birds with no ill effect. The pungent flowers have caused respiratory difficulty to people in Florida but the prime offender in this respect is the related night-blooming jessamine, Cestrum nocturnum.
Distribution in Florida: Central and southern Florida.
Background: Introduced as a flowering shrub for the urban landscape, principally for its fragrant flowers, but some people find the pungent odor objectionable while others consider it to be pleasant.
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