Common name: Milky way tree

Native to Central America, this flowering tree grows 5 to 10 m (16 to 32 ft) tall and develops a wide-spreading, rounded crown of glossy green leaves. 

Flowers are trumpet-shaped, white, sweetly fragrant and bloom most of the year, particularly during the warmest months. 

Fertilised flowers develop into odd-looking, twinned fruit. Green when young, they become orange when ripe.

Use 

It is grown as an ornamental for its showy and sweetly fragrant flowers, especially perfumed from sunset to sunrise.

Climate 

Grows naturally in humid subtropical and tropical climates, generally areas with air temperatures above 15°C and annual rainfall above 2000 mm. It has poor tolerance to drought conditions.

Growing

New plants can be grown from seed, cuttings or produced using air-layering (circumposing) techniques. Growth and flowering performance are best on free draining soil sites with a light shade to partial sun exposure. It will flower in the shade.

Problem features

There do not appear to be any reports of it being a weed or invasive species, despite its introduction into areas outside its native range. It is assessed as a low weed risk species for Hawaii by the Hawaii Pacific Weed Risk Assessment project (HPWRA). The milky white sap is poisonous to humans.

Books

• Barwick, M., et al. 2004, Tropical & subtropical trees : a worldwide encyclopaedic guide, Thames and Hudson, London

• González-Espinosa 2012, The red list of Mexican cloud forest trees, Fauna & flora International, Cambridge, U.K

• Rauch, F. D. & Weissich, P. R. 2000, Plants for tropical landscapes : a gardener's guide, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu

• Rauch, Fred D. (Fred Donald) & Weissich, Paul R 2009, Small trees for the tropical landscape : a gardener's guide, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, T.H

• Staples, G. & Herbst, D. R. 2005, A tropical garden flora : plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawaii