0327 



JASMINE 



Family: JASMINE family [Translator's note: now Oleaceae]. 

 Reproductive system: DlANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The common jasmine, Jasminum officinale, LINK, has a climbing stem that 

 reaches ten or twelve feet in height. The branches are slender and flexible. Their 

 compound leaves are imparipinnate; the terminal leaflet is much larger than the others. 

 The flowers are white and are situated at the ends of the stems and branches. The calyx is 

 small, short, and has five long hair-like lobes. The monopetalous corolla terminates in 

 five flat, pointed divisions. Two stamens are inserted in the tube of the corolla. The ovary 

 is free; it becomes a berry with two monospermous compartments. 



FLOWERS: from July into October. 



RANGE: the Malabar coast. Naturalized in Europe for several centuries. 



NOMENCLATURE. Jasminum, from ysmym, the Arabic name for this bush. 

 German, gemeine weine [Translator's note: probably weisse] jasmin. English, common 

 white jasmin. Portuguese, gelsemino bianco. 



The Italian jasmine, Jasminum humile, LINN., grows to a height of four or five 

 feet. The stem is crooked. It has flexible branches bearing leaves with three, four, or five 

 oval leaflets that are green, smooth, and entire. The terminal one usually is larger than the 

 others. The flowers are yellow and odorless. Their calyx is tubular with five small 

 denticulations. The corolla is monopetalous, tubular, and has five lobes. The two stamens 

 are sessile at the top of the tube of the corolla. The fruit is a berry with two 

 compartments, each containing an arillate seed. 



FLOWERS: from July into September. 



