Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) J. St.-Hil.

Yellow Jessamine; Carolina Jessamine; Poor Man's Rope

Vine

Perennial

Vascular

Yellow Jessamine is a native woody vine in the Jessamine family (Gelsemiaceae). It is native to all of Alabama. Yellow Jessamine occurs in upland pine or hardwood forests, in pine flatwoods and savannas, in swamps, on fence rows, and on roadsides. It is also frequently cultivated. It is a woody vine reaching lengths of 30 feet or more. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, lanceolate to ovate in outline, with entire margins. The leaves are short petiolate and glabrous. Flowers are produced from the axils of the leaves. The individual flowers have 5 blunt, rounded sepals united only at their base. The corolla is funnel-form with a tubular portion and 5 spreading lobes. The flowers are bright yellow in color and very fragrant. The fruit is a capsule with many brown, flat, winged seed. Yellow Jessamine is one of two species of Gelsemium native to Alabama. Yellow Jessamine can be found throughout most of the state, and is often available for sale at local garden centers. It grows in a variety of habitats, from very dry to wet, but never in areas that flood for extended periods of time. Swamp Jessamine (Gelsemium rankinii Small) is much less common in Alabama, being found primarily in the southern third of the state. It is found in areas that are waterlogged for extended periods of time, has odorless flowers, and flowers about two weeks later than Yellow Jessamine growing in the same area.--A. Diamond

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Native FAC (NWPL)

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