Jasmine (botanical name: Jasminum, pronounced YAS-min-əm) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultivated for the characteristic fragrance of their flowers.
The village of Shubra Beloula in Egypt grows most of the jasmine used by the global perfume industry.
Description
Jasmine can be either deciduous or evergreen, and can be erect, spreading, or climbing shrubs and vines. The leaves are borne in opposing or alternating arrangement and can be of simple, trifoliate, or pinnate formation.
The flowers are typically around 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in diameter. They are white or yellow, although in rare instances they can be slightly reddish. The flowers are borne in cymose clusters with a minimum of three flowers, though they can also be solitary on the ends of branchlets. Each flower has about four to nine petals, two locules, and one to four ovules. They have two stamens with very short filaments. The bracts are linear or ovate. The calyx is bell-shaped. They are usually very fragrant.
The basic chromosome number of the genus is 13, and most species are diploid (2n=26). However, natural polyploidy exists, particularly in Jasminum sambac (triploid 3n=39), Jasminum flexile (tetraploid 4n=52), Jasminum mesnyi (triploid 3n=39), and Jasminum angustifolium (tetraploid 4n=52).
Distribution and habitat
Jasmines are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Australasia within Oceania. Their center of diversity is in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Several jasmine species have become naturalized in Mediterranean Europe. For example, the so-called Spanish jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum) was originally from West Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Northeast Africa, and East Africa, and is now naturalized in the Iberian Peninsula.
Jasminum fluminense (which is sometimes known by the inaccurate name "Brazilian...
