JASMINUM

Jasminum L., Sp. Pl. 7. 1753; Gen. Pl. 5: 7. 1754; 1867; Clarke in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 591. 1882; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1: 315. 1918 (Reprint 1973); ed. 3: 314. 1956; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 12.

Shrubs, erect or scandent, twining or climbing. Leaves opposite or alternate, simple or 3- foliate. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, often dimorphous, hypogynous, usually in axillary or terminal 2-3-chotomous cymes. Calyx 4-20 toothed, teeth long or short. Corolla salver-shaped, white, pink or yellow, tube narrow; lobes 4-12 or more, spreading, imbricate. Stamens 2; filaments very short; connectives usually mucronate. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary bilocular; usually 2 ovules per loculus, near the base; style cylindric; stigma linear or capitate, ultimately usually 2-lobed. Berry didymous or simple by suppression, each part globose, ellipsoid or elongated. Seeds 1-2.

200 species

Jasminum arborescens

Jasminum arborescens Roxb. in Carey & Wall. (eds.), Fl. Ind. 1: 94. 1820; Clarke in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 594. 1882; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1: 315. 1918 (Reprint 1973); ed. 3. 315. 1956; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 20; keralaplants.in; Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp. 5. 1821; J. roxburghianum Wall. ex Clarke, Fl. Brit. Ind. 3: 595. 1882; J. latifolium Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 93. 1820.

Shrubs, large, suberect with straggling branches, branchlets pubescent. Leaves opposite, simple, variable in size up to 18 cm x 10 cm, ovate, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate; soft tomentose when young, later glabrate, apex acute or acuminate, base cuneate or broadly rounded, occasionally oblique, sometimes cordate, margin entire; veins distinct beneath; petiole up to 10 mm long. Flowers ca. 2.5 cm across and ca. 2 cm long, white, fragrant, in lax trichotomous cymes, peduncles ca. 2 cm long, pubescent; pedicels ca. 2 mm long, puberulent; bracts up to 5 mm long, linear or subulate, pubescent. Calyx 6-9 mm long, pubescent, teeth 5-10, linear-subulate, longer (4-6 mm) than the tube (2-3 mm). Corolla white, salver-shaped with 2(or 3) concentric tubes, each with 5-8 lobes, tubes ca. 1.2 cm long; lobes ca. 12 mm x 4 mm, lanceolate, acute. Stamens 2, epipetalous, inserted nearly in middle of innermost corolla tube; anthers bithecous, ca. 3 mm long, ovate-oblong, connective mucronate; filaments very small. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary 1-1.5 mm x 1-1.5 mm, 2-locular, ovules 2 per loculus; style ca. 6 mm long, cylindric; stigma linear, 2-lobed, ca. 1 mm long.

Berry simple, 1-1.5 cm long, oblong or ellipsoid, black when ripe. (Fruits not observed)

Flowering and Fruiting: April to June
Common Names: : Shrubby Jasmine, Tree Jasmine; Bara-Kunda, Nava Mallika (Hindi)