Yellow Jessamine
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Yellow Jessamine | image = Jessamine9493.JPG | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Gentianales | familia = Gelsemiaceae | genus = Gelsemium | species = G. sempervirens | binomial = Gelsemium sempervirens | binomial_authority = (L.) A.St.-Hil. }}
Yellow Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), also known as Carolina Jessamine or Evening Trumpetflower, is a twining vine in the family Gelsemiaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical America from Guatemala north to the southeastern United States.
The plant is a climbing vine shrub that can reach heights of 20' (6m) when given suitable climbing support, such as a wall, trellis, fence, or tree. The leaves are evergreen, lanceolate, 5-10 cm long and 1-1.5 cm broad, and lustrous, dark green. The flowers are borne in clusters, the individual flowers yellow, sometimes with an orange center, trumpet-shaped, 3 cm long and 2.5-3 cm broad. The yellow Jessamine usually prefers mildly acidic soil and requires regular watering in areas with irregular or seasonal rainfall.
All parts of this plant contain the toxic strychnine-related alkaloids gelsemine and gelseminine and should not be consumed. The sap may cause skin irritation in sensitive individuals. Children, mistaking this flower for honeysuckle, have been poisoned by sucking the nectar from the flower. The nectar is also toxic to honeybees, and causes brood death when gathered by the bees.
Despite the hazards, this is a popular garden plant in warmer areas, frequently being trained to grow over arbors or to cover walls.
Yellow Jessamine is the state flower of South Carolina.