198 
ON  GELSEMINUM  SEMPERVIRENS. 
"Grelseminum,  (Jussieu.)  Carolina  Jessamine.  Calx  five-leaved, 
very  small.  Corolla  funnel  form,  border  spreading,  five-lobed, 
nearly  equal.  Capsule  compressed  and  flat,  bipartite,  bilocular. 
Seed  flat,  attached  to  the  margins  of  the  valves. 
A  twining  evergreen  shrub,  not  lactescent,  leaves  opposite; 
flowers  in  small  axillary  and  terminal  fascicles,  yellow ;  calix  sub- 
tended by  imbricated  gemmaceous  bractes. 
Species. — 1st,  6r.  nitidum.  Flowers  fragrant,  anthers  oblong 
sagittate ;  style  short,  bifid ;  stigmas  linear,  oblong,  bilobed, 
pubescent.  2d,  6r.  inodorum.  Calix,  leaves  obtuse  ;  flowers 
inodorous.  Near  Savannah,  in  Georgia. — "Nuttall's  Genera  of 
North  American  Plants." 
"  The  yellow  jessamine  is  often  planted  against  wralls,  pales, 
&c,  as  the  branches  are  weak  and  slender,  and  it  will  grow  to 
ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  if  thus  supported.  The  young  shoots 
are  of  a  fine  strong  green  color,  angular  and  a  little  hairy.  The 
leaves  are  trifoliate,  though  sometimes  they  grow  singly.  They 
are  placed  alternately  upon  the  branches,  are  of  a  thick  consist- 
ence, smooth,  and  of  a  fine  deep  green  color.  The  flowers  are 
yellow,  and  do  not  possesses  the  fragrance  of  the  common  jessa- 
mine. They  are  produced  early  in  June,  and  the  blow  is  soon 
over  ;  they  are  succeeded  by  berries,  which,  when  ripe,  are  black. 
Although  this  shrub  possess  a  certain  stiffness,  which  gives  it 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  an  artificial  flower,  yet  the  fine 
yellow  color  of  its  blossoms  contrasts  so  well  with  the  rich  green 
of  the  foliage,  that  in  the  flower-pot  or  the  bouquet  it  never  fails 
to  have  a  conspicuous  and  pleasing  effect." — Jay's  Botany. 
The  Gelseminum  has  been  known  for  many  years  in  domestic  , 
practice,  both  in  the  south  and  west,  as  a  vermifuge ;  and 
generally  used  in  the  form  of  an  infusion  made  from  the 
roots.  Having  attracted  considerable  attention  as  a  febrifuge, 
in  consequence  of  the  statements  made  by  Eclectic  physicians 
and  others,  it  seemed  desirable  that  an  examination  of  its 
chemical  constituents  should  be  instituted,  and,  if  possible, 
the  active  principle  be  isolated.  "  The  plant  was  brought  into 
notice  as  a  febrifuge,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  in  the  following 
manner.  A  planter  having  been  laboring  under  a  severe  attack 
of  intermittent  fever,  which  seemed  to  resist  all  remedies, 
requested  one  of  his  servants  to  collect  a  common  root  growing 
