| General Description | Hardy, evergreen, woody climber about 12 m in height, with twining stems, glossy dark green, oval leaves, often turning deep bronze-red in winter and clusters of highly fragrant, white flowers. Star jasmine is in a different family (Apocynaceae) than the true jasmines in the genus
(Oleaceae). |
| ID Characteristic | Star Jasmine is identifiable by bruised twigs and petioles with milky white latex. Flowers are white, remarkably fragrant, salverform with pinwheel-like lobes. Leaves are opposite and brilliant dark green. |
| Shape | Vigorous climbing evergreen. |
| Landscape | In frost-free areas, you can train Star Jasmine to grow on a trellis, over an arbour, as an espalier against a wall or fence, as a border plant or hedge, or to spill over a wall. It is also suited to
containers with smaller plants. It can also be used as an evergreen groundcover under tall trees. In areas prone to severe frost, you need to protect it in a greenhouse or conservatory during the winter. |
| Propagation | Star jasmine can be propagated through cuttings, seeds and layering.
Cuttings best achieve the successful propagation of Star Jasmine. During the spring or early summer, cut a 25 to 30 cm length of the vine from a star jasmine plant. Cut just below a node (a slight swelling where a leaf or bud emerges). Divide the vine into 8 to 10 cm stems, each cut just below a node. Ensure that the milky sap excreted from the cutting has dried out before inserting the cutting into the soil. After cuttings have rooted (generally two to three weeks) move it into a pot with a good garden loam mix. For seed propagation, soak the seeds in warm water overnight. Sow the individual seeds into seed compost. The germination time for seeds is usually around 4-6 weeks. |
| Cultivation | Trachelospermum jasminoides prefer partial or full shade and moist, well-drained soil but is adaptable to a wide range of conditions, including full sun. It is subject to winter kill to the ground when grown in full sun. This vine is moderately salt tolerant but not cold, hardy. It requires pH soil from 4.5 to 8. If growing indoors, plant in loam-based potting compost in full light but not direct sun. |
| Pests | Susceptible to cushion scale. Under glass can be affected by mealybugs and glasshouse red spider mites. Generally disease-free and deer resistant. |
| Notable Specimens | Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid, Spain. |
| Habitat | Sunny edges of forests, brushwoods at elevations from 200 - 1300 m in eastern and southeastern Asia, Japan, Korea, southern China, and Vietnam. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Regarding the bark, it does not have a showy bark texture. Stems are slender, rounded, dark brown, pubescent and exude a milky sap when cut. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description | The buds are imbricate, 0.8mm to 1.6 mm long and brown in colour. |
| Leaf Description | Leaves of Trachelospermum jasminoides are opposite, simple, evergreen, oval-rounded of 4 cm to 9 cm long and 1.3 to 2.5 cm wide. Abruptly acute, cuneate to rounded, entire, glabrous, leathery. The new growth is bronze-purple, lustrous dark green above, pale green beneath, with veins of darker green creating a prominent mosaic. The petioles are 0.6 cm long, and pubescent. |
| Flower Description | Creamy-white with slight yellowish-tinge, pungently sweet. Calyx 5-lobed corolla salverform. Spreading, slightly twisted, overlapping to the right. Extremely fragrant. |
| Fruit Description | The fruit is a pair of elongated follicles, 10 to 25 cm. |
| Colour Description | Lustrous dark green leaves, bronze purple in winter. Flowers are white to cream with a slight yellowish tinge. The fruit is black. |
| Texture Description | It is a medium texture plant. |