Jasminum mesnyi Hance

Japanese Jasmine

Vine

Perennial

Vascular

Japanese Jasmine is an introduced evergreen shrub in the Olive family (Oleaceae). It is native to Vietnam and southern Asia. Japanese Jasmine has escaped in the southern United States, Mexico, and in Central America. It Alabama it is widely cultivated and has been reported as escaped or persistent from cultivation in the southern half of the state. Japanese Jasmine is a sprawling evergreen shrub with arching stems. The stems are glabrous, square in cross section, and green in color when young. They become brown or tan in color when older. The stems often root when in contact with the soil. The plant can be somewhat vine-like when supported by a fence or other vegetation, otherwise it forms sprawling masses of arching stems 8-10 feet in height. The leaves are opposite, dark green in color, and trifoliate. Leaflets are broadly ovate or elliptic, to lanceolate in outline. Fragrant bright yellow flowers are produced during the winter or early spring. Flowers are produced on wood grown the previous summer, and have from 5-10 petals. The flowers are solitary and axillary. The fruit is an ellipsoid berry, not seen in cultivated material. Japanese Jasmine is deer and drought resistant. It can be used to cover unsightly fences or walls, as a hedge or screen, as a cover for steep or rocky banks that are hard to mow, or as a specimen plant.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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