Jasmine
Jasmine, or Jessamine, a flowering shrub or vine native chiefly to warm regions of the Old World. Some jasmines have erect stems, others cling to walls for support. The feather-shaped leaves may grow opposite each other or alternately on the stems. Fragrant white, yellow, pink, or red flowers, about one inch (2.5 cm) across, are borne in clusters.
The common jasmine (or poet's Jessamine) of southern Asia may climb to a height of 40 feet (12 m). Its leaves are glossy green. The white flowers are sometimes used in making perfumes and for flavoring tea. Similar in appearance is Spanish jasmine, often grown in greenhouses. Arabian jasmine (or sampagui-ta) is the national flower of the Philippines.
Many shrubs called jasmines are not true jasmines. Among these are the yellow (or Carolina) jasmine, a gelsemium; the Chilean jasmine; the red jasmine (or Jrangipani) of Central America; and the Cape jasmine, a gardenia.
The common jasmine, Jasminum officinale, the Spanish jasmine, J. grandiflorum, and the Arabian jasmine, J. sambac, belong to the olive family, Oleaceae. The yellow jasmine, Gelsemium sempervirens, belongs to the family Loganiaceae; the Chilean jasmine, Mandevilla laxa, and red jasmine, Plumeria rubra, to the family Apocynaceae. For the Cape jasmine, .