Jasmine
The Jasmine flower and the essential oil extracted from the flower are being used extensively in cosmetics and perfumery and sometimes as a calmative (relaxing properties, sedative) or an aphrodisiac (intensifies sexual desire).
The Jasmine is a very popular flower around the world especially in the tropics because of its unique fragrance. The Jasmine is native to tropical and warm or temperate regions of the old world.
The Jasmine flowers are white in most species, with some species being yellow. The Jasmine is believed to have originated in the Himalayas in western China.
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Division
- Magnoliophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Lamiales
- Family
- Oleaceae
- Genus
- Jasminum
Unlike most genera in the Oleceae family, which have four corolla lobe petals, Jasmines often have five or six lobes. Jasmines are often strong and sweet scented. Jasmines are widely cultivated for their shining leaves and beautiful clusters of fragrant flowers.
Flowering in Jasmines takes place in summer or spring which is usally six months after planting. The Jasmine flower releases its fragrance at night after the sun has set and especially when the moon is waxing towards fullness. Jasmine flower buds are more fragrant than the flowers.
There exists a true Jasmine and a false Jasmine, and the two are commonly mistaken for each other because of the fragrance the plants release. The true Jasmine belongs to the family Oleaceae and is primarily a bushy shrub or a climbing vine and is non-poisonous.
True Jasmines have oval, shiny leaves and tubular, waxy-white flowers. The false Jasmine on the other hand is in a completely different genus, Gelsemium, and family, Loganiaceae, which is considered too poisonous for human consumption.
Facts About Jasmine
- Jasmine shrubs reach a height of 10-15 feet, growing approximately 12-24 inches per year.
- Jasmine leaves are either evergreen or deciduous.
- A Jasmine leaf is arranged opposite in most species. The leaf shape is simple, trifoliate or pinnate with 5-9 leaflets, each up to two and half inches long.
- The Jasmine stems are slender, trailing, green, glabrous, angled, and almost 4-sided.
- Most of the Jasmine species bear white flowers, which are about 1 inch in size.
- The Jasmine oil, which is a very popular fragrant oil, contains benzyl acetate, terpinol, jasmone, benzyl benzoate, linalool, several alcohols, and other compounds.
- The variety Jasminium sambac, is a clustered flower of an equally strong scent known in Hawaii as the Pikake.
- The two types of Jasmine which are used for oil production are the Jasminum grandiflorum and Jasminum officinale.
- The nectar of the fragrant flowers of Carolina Jasmine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is poisonous, although its dried roots are used as a sedative in medicinal preparations.
- The Jasmine flower oil, extracted from the two species Jasminum Officinale and Grandiflorum, is used in high-grade perfumes and cosmetics, such as creams, oils, soaps, and shampoos.
Some Popular Varieties in Jasmine
- Common Jasmine or Poet's Jasmine - Jasmine officinale, is native to Iran. It produces fragrant white flowers which is the source of the attar of Jasmine used in perfumery.
- Winter Jasmine - Jasmine nudiflorum, a Chinese species with solitary yellow flowers, is used as a cover plant on hillsides.
- The Arabian Jasmine - Jasmine sambac, is used to make Jasmine tea.
- The South African Jasmine - Jasmine angulare is an evergreen vine only hardy in the coastal areas. The Jasmine blooms in summer, bearing white unscented flowers in groups of three.
- Spanish Jasmine - Jasmine grandiflorum, is a semi-evergreen to deciduous vine with fragrant, white flowers, which are 1 inch in diameter.
- Italian Jasmine - Jasmine humile, an evergreen shrub or vine which can reach up to 20 feet and arch making a mound 10-foot-wide. Clusters of bright yellow fragrant flowers are present all summer.
- Primrose Jasmine - Jasmine mesnyi, an evergreen shrub with yellow, unscented flowers which can be up to 2 inches in diameter.
- Downy Jasmine - Jasmine multiflorum, has clustered, white flowers that are not strongly scented. The stems and leaves have a downy coating, resulting in an overall gray-green effect.
Growing Jasmine Flowers
- Jasmines grow well in moist, well drained, sandy loam to clayey garden soil with moderate level of fertility.
- Jasmines prefer a full sun to partial shade and a warm site.
- Jasmine bushes should be planted during June to November.
- Jasmine plant should be kept at least eight feet apart in order to save the later growth of the plant from jamming together.
- Adding of leaf molds to the soil makes a better growth of the plant.
- Mild fertilizer should be applied during spring.
- Plenty of water should be given during summer.
- Jasmine plants should be provided with full sunlight up to at least four hours a day.
Uses of Jasmine
- Jasmines are used for decorations on various occasions like weddings, anniversaries....
- Jasmines are used for making perfumes and incense.
- Jasmines are used for making oils which are used in Aromatherapy.
- Jasmines are used for making garlands and are worn on the hair by women in some Asian countries.
- Jasmines are used in medicines for healing. The Jasmine tea, made out of Star Jasmine is used for balancing the body affected by Sun stroke.
- Jasmine oil extracts are used in beauty products to rejuvenate the skin.
- Jasmines are known to be a heavily fragrant flower. It also helps to lift the mood of people who undergo emotional depression.
- Jasmines help in relieving stress through fragrance and help encourage individuals to relax and live healthy.
- Unlike the tea taken daily, people prefer Jasmine tea as a refreshment as contrast to daily routine.
Jasmine Plant Care
- Remove the weeds present near Jasmine plants.
- Fertilizers should be added from time to time. Mild or moderate fertilizers must be used.
- Add fertilizers every two weeks - 10% potassium, 20% phosphorous and a 10% nitrogen combination is best suited for a Jasmine plant
- Phosphorous and Potassium should be applied in two split doses i.e. once after annual pruning and again during June and July.
- The tips of the plants should be pinched to stimulate lateral growth and pruning should be frequent .
- First irrigation should be given immediately after planting and subsequent irrigation at an interval of seven to ten days.
- Younger plants should be tied with the stems to give a fairly heavy support.
- Taking care of a Jasmine plant differs, depending when it's indoor and outdoor. When it comes to indoor plant care, Jasmine needs 4-6 hours of exposure to sun light. It's better to keep Jasmine plants in the balcony. Don't expose it to direct Sunlight in the afternoon. Keep it in shades during mid-day, especially during Summer.
- For indoor planting, care should be taken so that the plant does not develop fungus.
- If at all it is placed inside the house, to avoid fungus, the most suitable place is near an open window
- Pruning in late spring is preferred.
- For Jasmine polyanthum, frequent pruning is a must.
- If spider mites are found, water spray on the leaves gets rid of the problem.
- Dead leaves and branches and dead flowers must be removed from time to time. Otherwise the growth of the plant will get effected.
- For outdoor Jasmine plant care - The preferred time to plant Jasmine bushes is in June and November.
- If you plant 2-3 Jasmine Bushes, you need to give adequate space between them so that their roots can expand.
- Sandy loam soil is best recommended for a growing Jasmine plant.
- Water the plant daily, don't let the soil completely dry.
- You can add lime to the soil for the plants healthy growth.
The four things which are most important are
Sunshine
Fertilizer
Soil
Watering
Jasminum sambac , a popular species in the genus Jasmine is also the National Flower of Indonesia where it is known as Melati, and the Philippines, where it is known as Sampaguita.
Also have a look at some other Flowers
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