Jasminum grandiflorum

Jasminum grandiflorum
Leaves of Jasminum grandiflorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Jasminum
Species:	J. grandiflorum
Binomial name
Jasminum grandiflorum L.

Jasminum grandiflorum, also known variously as the Spanish jasmine, Royal jasmine, Catalonian jasmine, among others^[1] (chameli in Hindi) is a species of jasmine native to South Asia. In India, its leaves are widely used as an Ayurvedic herbal medicine and its flowers are used to adorn the coiffure of women. In Pakistan, it grows wild in the Salt Range and Rawalpindi District at 500-1500 m altitude.^[2] It is closely related to, and sometimes treated as merely a form of, Jasminum officinale.^[3]

It is a scrambling deciduous shrub growing to 2–4 m tall. The leaves are opposite, 5–12 cm long, pinnate with 5–11 leaflets. The flowers are produced in open cymes, the individual flowers are white having corolla with a basal tube 13–25 mm long and five lobes 13–22 mm long.^[2][4] The flower's fragrance is unique and sweet.

It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in warm temperate and subtropical regions.

By method of solvent extraction the Jasmine flowers are converted into Jasmine Concrete and Jasmine Oleoresin (sold as Jasmine Absolute). Both products have a huge demand in the fragrance industry.

Methyl jasmonate isolated from the jasmine oil of Jasinum gradiflorum led to the dicovery of the molecular structure of the jasmonate plant hormones^[5].

References

1. ^ ARS-GRIN.gov article
2. ^ ^{a b} Flora of Pakistan: Jasminum grandiflorum
3. ^ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
4. ^ Flora of China: Jasminum grandiflorum
5. ^ Demole E (1962). "Isolement et détermination de la structure du jasmonate de méthyle, constituant odorant caractéristique de l'essence de jasminIsolement et détermination de la structure du jasmonate de méthyle, constituant odorant caractéristique de l'essence de jasmin". Helv Chim Acta 45: 675–85. doi:10.1002/hlca.19620450233.