Jasminum officinale L.
poet's jasmine
Climbing shrub, usually evergreen, but partially deciduous in colder inland areas. Stems ± angular. Lvs opposite, pinnate, with 5-7-(9), sessile leaflets; petiole to 2 cm long. Terminal leaflet 2-6.5 × 0.8-2.4 cm, lanceolate to narrow-ovate, ± puberulent, sometimes united with a lateral leaflet; base cuneate to rounded; apex long-acuminate; lateral leaflets smaller, broader. Cymes ± terminal, with < 10 fragrant fls; pedicels slender, almost = fls. Calyx 7-10 mm long, puberulent; tube campanulate, much < teeth; teeth subulate or setose. Corolla white, sometimes tinged purple outside; tube 1.2-1.5 cm long; lobes 8-10 × 4-7 mm, elliptic, glabrous, with ± rounded, mucronulate apex. Style = corolla tube or slightly exserted. Fr. 6-7 mm diam., subglobose, black, glossy, not commonly produced; pulp purple.
S.: Marlborough, Canterbury.
Sino-Himalayan region 1958
Spreading to a limited extent from cultivated plants, densely covering surrounding shrubs and small trees in and around hedges and shrubberies.
FL Nov-Mar.
The fl. of Poet's jasmine is illustrated in Fig. 91. The sp. was presumably introduced in the early period of European settlement and is often seen in old gardens, where it long persists as a relic of cultivation, especially along the E. side of the South Id. Plants with somewhat larger corollas purplish on the outside correspond to var. affine (Lindley) Dippel. and may be wild.
