88 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 
fusion swinging from the boughs of pine-trees 
forty to fifty feet in the air. 
Perhaps the greatest charm of the yellow jessa- 
mine is not its athletic prowess as a climber, nor 
the beauty of its golden flowers, but its marvellous 
perfume! 
“The perfume from the blossom’s cell, 
On every zephyr stealing.” 
Yet it is a plant of many notions and moods, 
and as a result it is often found entirely devoid of 
perfume. A strange trait indeed, for a plant famed 
for its delightful fragrance! 
An interesting error has arisen regarding the 
name of this climber. While it is commonly known 
in the South as “jasmine,” it is not botanically re- 
lated to the genus Jasminum, or the true jasmines. 
“Jasminum” probably came from the Arabic name 
of the plant, “jasmin.” 
But, whatever the origin of its name, the yellow 
jessamine is enthroned forever in the minds of 
those who have been fortunate enough to see it in 
all its glory of golden perfumed blossoms joyously 
proclaiming to the world, “Spring has come!” 
The plant which climbs eternally, always strain- 
ing toward the light, shows in its glossy leaves or 
its gorgeous blossoms and in its long natural term 
