Yellow Jasmine or Jessamine.
Gelsemium Sempervirens (L.) Ait. f.
Pharmacopoeial Name — Gelsemium.
Other Common Names — Carolina jasmine or jessamine, Carolina wild woodbine, evening trumpet-flower.
Habitat and Range — Yellow jasmine is a plant native to the South, found along the banks of streams, in woods, lowlands, and thickets, generally near the coast, from the eastern part of Virginia to Florida and Texas, south to Mexico and Guatemala.
Description of Plant — This highly ornamental climbing or trailing plant is abundantly met with in the woods of the Southern states, its slender stems festooned over trees and fences and making its presence known by the delightful perfume exhaled by its flowers, filling the air with fragrance that is almost overpowering wherever the yellow jasmine is very abundant.
Yellow Jasmine (Gelsensium Sempervirens).
The smooth, shining stems of this beautiful vine sometimes reach a length of 20 feet. The leaves are evergreen, lance shaped, entire, 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, rather narrow, borne on short stems, and generally remaining on the vine during the winter. The flowers, which appear from January to April, are bright yellow, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, the corolla funnel shaped. They are very fragrant but poisonous, and it is stated the eating of honey derived from jasmine flowers has brought about fatal results.
Yellow Jasmine is a perennial and belongs to a family that is noted for its poisonous properties, namely, the Logania family (Loganiaceae), which numbers among its members such powerful poisonous agents as the strychnine-producing tree.