Jasminum officinale
True jasmine ( Jasminum officinale)
The True jasmine or Common Jasmine ( Jasminum officinale ) is a climbing woody plant that really stand out for its decorative white and fragrant flowers.
Description
The Jasmine is a deciduous, 0.4 to 5 meters in trellises up to 10 meters high climbing shrub with green, four-sided, thin and rod- shaped branches. The leaves are arranged and are from five to nine leaflets composed. The leaves are elliptic, acuminate and 1-6 inches long. The flowers are in clusters of up to ten. They are white, fragrant, about 2.5 inches wide and are available on 0.4 to 2.5 centimeters long pedicles. The calyx is 1-3 millimeters in size, glabrous or slightly hairy. The coronary band is five-lobed and 6 to 12 millimeters long. The jasmine flowers from June to September. As a fruit round to oval berries are formed which are dark red when ripe and violet color later.
Distribution and ecology
The natural range of the real thing Jasmine is located in the Himalayas in Kashmir and in Southwest China at altitudes of 1800-4000 meters. In Europe, he was naturalized, it is found in the Iberian Peninsula, France and Romania, outside of Europe, the Caucasus and Iran. It grows in steppes and dry forests on moderately dry to fresh, nutrient-rich soils, which can be slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, gravelly or sandy loamy. It is frost sensitive and prefers sunny hot locations.
System
The Real Jasmine is a member of the genus Jasminum of the family Oleaceae ( Oleaceae ). There, the genus of the tribe Jasmineae is assigned. There are three varieties:
- Jasminum officinale var officiniale: The terminal leaflet reach a length of 1 to 4.5 inches, and a width of 0.4 to 2 inches. Young shoots, petioles, leaves and calyx are glabrous or finely hairy.
- Jasminum officiniale var piliferum: The terminal leaflet reach a length of 1 to 4.5 inches, and a width of 0.4 to 2 inches. Young shoots, petioles, leaves and calyx are hairy fitting.
- Jasminum officiniale var tibeticum with terminal leaflet, which reach a length of 0.5 to 1.6 inches and a width of 0.2 to 0.5 centimeters.
Use
The jasmine is cultivated as an ornamental shrub because of its decorative and fragrant flowers. The essential oil, which is recovered by solvent as absolute, is used in aromatherapy, and for perfumes as a flavoring for example jasmine or maraschino cherries. In the East and in China for thousands of years scented oils are extracted from the flowers of the jasmine, which is reflected also in his Arabic name ( Jasamin stands for " fragrant oil" and comes from the Persian yasmin back ). He came in the second half of the 16th century from the Turkish gardens across Italy to Central Europe. In 1561 he was mentioned by Conrad Gesner in Germany.
Trivia
The Jasmine is the national flower of Tunisia and Pakistan.