Flora of New Zealand Series

jasmine

Almost glabrous, evergreen climbing shrub. Stems ± terete. Lvs opposite, pinnate, with (5)-7 leaflets; petioles from c. 5-30 mm long. Terminal leaflets 3-7 × 0.8-2.5 cm, lanceolate to ovate, entire, with hairy tufts in axils of basal veins beneath, sometimes ciliolate; base subcordate to rounded, or sometimes oblique; apex acuminate; petiolules to 10 mm long. Lateral leaflets smaller, otherwise similar; petiolules < 5 mm long. Cymes terminal or axillary in uppermost axils, forming many-flowered panicles of very fragrant fls; pedicels 8-20 mm long, slender. Calyx 3-4 mm long; teeth subulate, = or slightly < tube. Corolla white, usually pink in bud; tube 1.5-2.5 cm long, narrow-cylindric; lobes 1-1.8 cm long, elliptic, glabrous, with ± rounded, mucronulate apex. Style exserted. Fr. 5-8 mm diam., broad-ellipsoid to globular, glossy black, not often produced; pulp dark red.

N.: N. Auckland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty (Opotiki district), Gisborne.

W. China 1980

Secondary forest margins, scrub, waste ground, abandoned gardens= cultivation escape.

FL Jan-Dec.

J. polyanthum is now the most commonly cultivated sp. in N.Z. and thrives in all but the colder North Id and South Id areas. The vines are often very rampant and layer themselves extensively, and so spread over some distance, e.g., about a hectare of low forest between Waiwera and Warkworth is reported to be mostly covered by this sp. Because of its more prolific fls (Fig. 91) and longer flowering season, this later-introduced jasmine has largely replaced the similar J. officinale. However, unlike the Italian jasmine, J. polyanthum is intolerant of more than a few degrees of frost and only grows vigorously in warm areas.

Another commonly cultivated liane with compound, opposite lvs is J. azoricum L.. This Madeiran sp. is 3-foliolate, the calyx teeth are very short and the corolla is pure white. It long persists in old abandoned or neglected gardens but is not known to be naturalised; the record of it as wild on Little Barrier Id (Sykes 1981) is in error for the bignoniaceous Pandorea pandorana (see under that sp.).