Cestrum elegans

Mexican bush hammer ( Cestrum elegans)

The Mexican bush hammer ( Cestrum elegans ), also called Red Bush Hammer, is a species of the genus of shrubs Hammer ( Cestrum ).

Description

Vegetative characteristics

The Mexican Hammer shrub reaches a height between 75 inches and five meters. The few feinflaumigen branches are staffed with purple and transparent, simple or minimally branched hairs. The branches are bent and reach lengths of 30 centimeters to one meter. The lance-shaped or oval leaves are arranged opposite one another. They are between seven and eleven and a half inches long and two and a half to five and a half inches wide. At its peak towards the leaves are increasingly reduced. The upper leaf surface is occupied, especially along the veins with a half a millimeter long hairs in some areas, but also hairless. The underside of the leaves, however, is more densely hairy, and these along the Blattaderung up to one millimeter can be long there.

Inflorescences and flowers

The inflorescence are cymes, which are in the axils of the upper leaves or terminal. They normally consist of five to 15 individual flowers. The crossed from one to two millimeters long bracts flower stalk is about one millimeter long. The flowers are dark red, purple or white. The individual glabrous calyx measure four and a half to six millimeters. The half -millimeter cup lobes are erect and triangular in shape. At their edges they are ciliated with 200 microns long hairs. The 1.6 to 2.3 centimeters in size, not fragrant crown narrows toward the base and the tip. Four millimeters above the Kronröhrenbasis spring the nine to twelve millimeters long, glabrous stamens. The round anther reach a diameter of one millimeter. The ovary is glabrous; the stylus 12 to 15 millimeters long, the scar is little head -shaped.

Fruit and seeds

For year-round taking place fruit maturity, the calyx enlarged to seven millimeters and surrounds the base of the red-violet berries. You are spherical with diameters between eight and 13 millimeters. Inside the berries are bright pink and white to have eight prismatic elongated seeds. The seeds are 3 mm long and two millimeters wide and of dark color.

Occurrences and locations

The Mexican bush hammer comes in the mountains of Mexico off where he is referred to as Aretillo. Although he comes sporadically outside the region of Veracruz but before has there its distribution area. He comes at altitude 700-1900 meters before, but mainly at altitudes around 1400 meters. Preferred locations deciduous forests are

Use

The plant is cultivated worldwide. His entry into European greenhouses and the local horticultural found the Mexican bush hammer in the 19th century together with the two types Cestrum fasciculatum and Cestrum roseum. Chance is also trying to use it medically. He is said to have calming effect here.

Phylogenetics

Phylogenetic analyzes place C. elegans as a sister species Cestrum endlicheri aside.

Documents

• Corner Hardt J. Hunter, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd Müller K. (ed.): Rothmaler Exkursionsflora of Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8.
• Michael Nee: Flora de Veracruz: Solanaceae I. fascículo 49, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, 1986, pp. 37-39.
• Juan Carlos Montero - Castro, Alfonso Delgado - Salinas, Efrain De Luna and Luis E. Eguiarte: Phylogenetic Analysis of Cestrum Section Habrothamnus (Solanaceae ) Based on Plastid and Nuclear DNA Sequences. Systematic Botany (2006), 31 (4): pp. 843-850.