Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Pink jasmine

(Jasminum polyanthum)

galery
en

Description

Jasminum polyanthum the many-flowered jasmine or pink jasmine, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to China and Myanmar. A strong evergreen twining climber, it is especially noted for its abundant, highly fragrant pink to white flowers. The Latin specific epithet polyanthum means “many-flowered”. When supported, the plant can grow up to 6 metres in height. The compound leaves with 5 to 9 leaflets are dark green on the upper surface and a lighter green beneath, with glabrous, terete or angular branches. The terminal leaflet is noticeably larger than the other leaflets. The plant is native to the mountainous areas of Southwest China, particularly Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan, as well as Myanmar. It lives in valleys and forests at elevations between 1400 and 3000 m. Jasmine (taxonomic name: Jasminum) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultivated for the characteristic fragrance of their flowers. A number of unrelated plants contain the word "jasmine" in their common names (see Other plants called "jasmine"). Jasmine can be either deciduous (leaves falling in autumn) or evergreen (green all year round), and can be erect, spreading, or climbing shrubs and vines. Their 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 fruits of jasmines are berries that turn black when ripe. 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).

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Lamiales
Family:Oleaceae
Genus:Jasminum
News coming your way
The biggest news about our planet delivered to you each day