Common Name: Lady Of The Night

General Information

Lady of the night is an evergreen shrub growing up to 3.5 metres tall.
The plant is widely cultivated in the tropics and subtropics, mainly as an ornamental and hedge plant, but also sometimes for its medicinal uses[].

Known Hazards

All parts of the plant are poisonous[]. The toxic principles are solanine-type glyco-alkaloids and atropine-like alkaloids. The symptoms are headache, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, muscular spasms and nervousness, high temperature, salivation and sweating, paralysis and coma[].

Botanical References

Range

C. America - Panama to Mexico; Caribbean - Cuba.

Habitat

Moist and wet forests and open areas, often forming dense, impenetrable thickets[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	3.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

The mature plant is hardy to about -4°c, but without protection, the new growth is likely to be killed at around 1°c[].
Grows well in full sun and in light shade[, ]. Succeeds in any reasonably fertile, free-draining soil[].
The species has been introduced as an ornamental in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It has became widely naturalized and is sometimes invasive, forming dense impenetrable stands which limit the regeneration of native species[].
Plants can be pruned annually after flowering in order to keep them compact[].
The greenish white flowers, which open at night, are powerfully fragrant[]. At a distance the aroma resembles that of valerian, but at close range it is rank and overpowering[].

Edible Uses

The leaves are cooked in fat with tortillas[]. This is a very suspect report since the leaves are aid to be poisonous[].

Medicinal

An extract of the plant is used as an antispasmodic and as a treatment for epilepsy[].

Various studies have been carried out on the medicinal virtues of the plant. One study isolated two new flavonoid glycosides and seven steroidal saponins. The study reports cytotoxic activities of the compounds against human oral squamous cell carcinoma and normal human gingival fibroblasts[].
Decoctions of the dried leaves were not effective against pharmacologically induced convulsions, but repeated administration reduced the amplitude of epileptic spikes in both primary and secondary foci. Results suggest the plant possesses analgesic activity through a peripheral mechanism[].
Both aqueous and methanol extracts of the plant have shown bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus and various other bacteria[].
In laboratory tests, extracts of the plant were shown to inhibit tumour growth and prolong the lifetime in a dose-dependent manner[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is grown as an ornamental hedge[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Soft tip cuttings.
Cuttings of semi-ripe wood, 8 - 10cm long[].

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