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Jasminum (Its Arabic name Jasmine One)

(its Arabic name). Jasmine. One, and by far the most important, of the three genera forming the TRIBE Jasmineae of ORD. Oleaceae. About 120 species have been described: they are stove, greenhouse, or hardy, evergreen or deciduous shrubs, usually of trailing habit. Flowers showy, often very fragrant; corolla white or yellow, salver-shaped. Leaves opposite or rarely alternate, trifoliolate, impari-pinnate, or simple. Jasminums are well-known and very popular plants, on account of their elegant habit, and the perfume emitted by the flowers of many species. They may all be propagated from cuttings of firm wood. The tender species should be inserted in sandy or peaty soil, and placed under a hand glass, in heat; the hardy sorts succeed in a similar inclosure, without heat. J. gracillimum is an excellent winter-flowering, stove or warm greenhouse plant, well adapted for cultivation in pots or hanging baskets. J. Sambac may be similarly treated, but its double form is of somewhat straggling growth, and does best when planted out and trained to a pillar. The flowers of these species are white, and highly fragrant. J. grandiflorum is a fine warm greenhouse species, and J. nudiflorum, J. officinale, and J. revolutum merit special notice for covering walls, arbours, &c., outside. Hardy jasmines thrive in any fairly good garden soil; the stove and greenhouse species succeed in a compost of about equal parts loam and peat.

J. auriculatum (auriculate). fl. white; corolla seven-parted. May to September. l. mostly simple, ovate, some trifoliolate; leaflets ovate, lateral ones small. h. 10ft. India to Mauritius, 1790. Stove climber. (B. R. 264.) J. azoricum (Azores). fl. white; petals five, equal in length to the tube. Summer and autumn. l. leaflets ovate and sub-cordate, undulated. Branches terete. Azores, 1724. Greenhouse shrubby twiner. (B. M. 1889.) J. didymum (twin). fl. pure white, 1/2in. to 3/4in. long; cymes scattered along slender panicles, which usually much exceed the leaves, and are axillary or terminal on short branches. Winter. l. trifoliolate, very variable in size and form; leaflets oblong, ovate, or orbicular, rarely ovate-lanceolate and acute or acuminate, coriaceous and shining, acute or rounded at the base. Tropical Australia and the Pacific Islands. An elegant hothouse climber. usually glabrous and shining, but sometimes more or less pubescent, especially on the inflorescence. (B. M. 6349.) J. floridum (florid). fl. yellow, 1/2in. in diameter, in lax cymes; calyx teeth long, subulate. l. alternate, pinnately trifoliolate. Japan and China, 1884. A hardy ornamental shrub. (B. M. 6719.) J. fruticans (shrubby). fl. yellow, with oblong, obtuse petals. Summer. l. alternate, ternate, and simple; leaflets obovate or cuneiform, obtuse. Branches angular. h. 10ft. to 12ft. South Europe, 1570. A hardy evergreen shrub. (B. M. 461.) J. gracile (slender). A synonym of J. simplicifolium. J. gracillimum (very slender).* fl. white, large, sweet-scented; petals nine, elliptic-oblong; panicle many-flowered, globose, drooping. Winter. l. opposite, petiolate, ovate-cordate, acute, hirsute. Northern Borneo, 1881. A most desirable and elegant small-growing stove species, with long, slender branches. (B. M. 6559.) J. grandiflorum (large-flowered).* fl. white, reddish underneath. June to October. l. opposite, pinnate; leaflets bluntish, outer three to five confluent. Wild at 2000ft. to 5000ft. elevation in subtropical North-western Himalaya. Cultivated widely throughout the tropics. 1629. A warm greenhouse bush (hardly a climber), very like J. officinale, but differing in the equal size of the leaflets, and in the exterior ones being confluent, also in the larger flowers (B. R. 91.) J. hirsutum (hairy). A synonym of J. pubescens.

J. humile (humble). fl. yellow, with oblong, obtuse segments; peduncles terminal, twin, or tern, three-flowered. Summer. l. alternate, acute, trifoliolate or pinnate. Branches angular. h. 3ft. to 4ft. India, 1656. Hardy deciduous shrub. (B. R. 350.) J. multiflorum (many-flowered). A synonym of J. pubescens. J. nudiflorum (naked-flowered).* fl. yellow, solitary, opposite. Winter. l. small, ternate. Branches flexible, green. China, 1844. A well-known and most desirable hardy deciduous climber, producing its flowers in great abundance throughout the winter months. It thrives in almost any situation, and grows with great rapidity. (B. M. 4649.) J. odoratissimum (sweetest-scented). fl. yellow, with five oblong-obtuse segments; peduncles terminal, by threes, three-flowered. Summer. l. alternate, bluntish, ternate and pinnate. Branches terete. Maderia, 1656. Hardy climber. (B. M. 285.) J. officinale (officinal).* Common White Jessamine. fl. white, fragrant; corolla four or five-cleft. June to September. l. opposite, pinnate; leaflets ovate, acuminated, terminal one the longest. Branches angular. Northern India to Persia, 1548. Of this well-known and deservedly popular hardy climber, there are golden and silver-edged-leaved, and double-flowered varieties, which are, however, all inferior to the type. (B. M. 31.) J. o. affine (related) differs from the type in more copious inflorescence, and larger flowers. Probably of garden origin. (R. H. 1878,87.) J. paniculatum (paniculate). fl. white, in terminal panicles. January. l. ternate, oval, obtusely acuminate. h. 5ft. China, 1818. Stove evergreen climber. (B. R. 690; L. B. C. 469.) J. pubescens (downy). fl. pure white, large, fragrant; petals six to nine, lanceolate; umbels terminal, sessile. Summer. l. cordate, mucronate, tomentose beneath and on the petioles; upper ones forming an involucre round the umbel. China and India, 1759. Plant sarmentose, downy. Greenhouse straggling shrub. SYNS. J. hirsutum (B. M. 1991), J. multiflorum (A. B. R. 496.) J. pubigerum (down-bearing). fl. yellow, with five or six obtuse petals; peduncles elongated, one-flowered, terminal, sub-corymbose, downy. Summer and autumn. l. alternate, pinnate; leaflets seven, ovate-lanceolate or oblong-acuminate, sessile, downy while young. North-west India, 1827. A nearly hardy evergreen climbing shrub, closely allied to J. revolutum, but with smaller flowers.

J. revolutum (revolute-leaved).* fl. bright yellow, very fragrant, with five obtuse petals; corymbs terminal, compound. May to October. l. alternate, pinnate; leaflets five to seven, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, glabrous, on short petioles. India, 1812. A greenhouse or hardy evergreen climbing shrub. Botanically, a form of J. humile, but distinct for horticultural purposes. (B. M. 1731.) J. Sambac (Sambac or Arabian).* fl. white, fragrant, usually disposed in small trichotomous cymes. l. almost sessile, membranous, from cordate to oblong, acute or obtuse, waved. India, 1665. A well-known and handsome evergreen stove twining shrub, producing flowers nearly all the year round. (B. R. 1.) There are two or three varieties, including a double-flowered form. (B. M. 1785.) J. simplicifolium (simple-leaved). fl. white, terminal; corolla six to eight-parted; segments linear, acute, equal to the tube. June and July. l. oblong, polished. Australia, &c., 1800. Stove climber, or sometimes a tree. (B. M. 980.) SYN. J. gracile (B. R. 606).

J. undulatum (wavy). fl. white; cymes dense; calyx teeth subulate, pubescent.