Jasmine Tea
Jasminum sambac
Family: Oleaceae
What it is like
Jasminum sambac is an evergreen Shrub growing to 3 m (9ft) by 3 m (9ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Insects. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 3
Where it is found
Within its native distribution range, J. sambac occurs in dipterocarp forests. Once naturalized, J. sambac is found growing in disturbed sites, secondary forests, coastal areas, abandoned gardens and orchards near villages.. Found at elevations up to 600 metres
E. Asia - Bhutan, India.
Conservation Status: Not Listed.
Countries/locations it is found in
Native to a small region in the eastern Himalayas including territories in Bhutan and India. Africa, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Haiti, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marquesas, Myanmar, Nauru, North Africa, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tuvalu, USA, West Africa, West Indies.
How it is used
Food
Rating: 3
The dried flowers are commonly used to scent tea, especially in China . They can be used in conjunction with Jasminum lanceolaria; 30 kilos of the flowers are combined with 10 kilos of Jasminium lanceolaria flowers to scent 100 kilos of tea . Aromatic water prepared from the flowers is popular in Thai cooking, especially for desserts .
Tea: the various herb teas that can be used in place of tea, plus the genuine article.
Medicine
Rating: 3
Roots and leaves are important Ayurvedic medicine . Both the leaves and flowers are used medicinally, although the leaves have a stronger action than the flowers . They are antiamoebic, astringent, febrifuge and galactofuge . A decoction is used internally as a treatment for fever . An infusion is employed to treat pulmonary catarrh, bronchitis, and asthma . A poultice of the leaves is applied externally to treat skin complaints and wounds . The bruised leaves or flowers are used as a poultice to the breasts of lactating women to discourage breast milk production . An infusion of the flowers is applied to the eyelids as a decongestant . The stems are employed as an antipyretic and in the treatment of abscesses . A tincture made from the root is said to have very strong sedative, anaesthetic and vulnerary properties . The root is given fresh to treat fevers and venereal diseases . A decoction is employed in the treatment of pulmonary catarrh, bronchitis, and also asthma . The roots are used externally as poultices for sprains and fractures .
Anaesthetic: Numbs the feeling in a local or general area of the body.
Antiasthmatic: Treats asthma.
Antipyretic: Treats fevers. See Febrifuge.
Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.
Decongestant: Removes phlegm and mucous, especially from the respiratory system.
Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.
Galactofuge: Stops or reduces the flow of milk in a nursing mother.
Parasiticide: Treats external parasites such as ringworm This should perhaps be joined with Parasiticide in
Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.
Sedative: Gently calms, reducing nervousness, distress and irritation.
Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.
Vulnerary: Promotes the healing of wounds.
Other
Rating: 3
An ornamental plant with strongly scented flowers. The essential oil in the flowers is used in perfumery . A sacred flower in Indonesian tradition, as it symbolizes purity, sacredness, graceful simplicity and sincerity. In Cambodia, the flower is used as an offering to the Buddha. In Hawaii, the flower is known as p_kake and is used to make fragrant leis. Jasmine is a sacred flower in Hinduism, it is used in mediation, decoration, fragrance, worship, and it is sacred to all forms of Goddess Devi. In South-East Asia, it is one of the most popular ornamental plants grown. Numerous cultivars currently exist. In the UK, this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Containers.
Cosmetic: Used to improve the physical appearence of a person.
Parasiticide: Kills external body parasites such as hair lice.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
Scented Plants: Plants noted for their scent
How it is grown
Jasminum sambac succeeds in lowland areas of the tropics and subtropics. Plants can only tolerate occasional light frosts. It succeeds in full sun and partial shade and requires moist but well-drained soil. Jasminum sambac prefers light soil that is rich in organic matter. A pH ranges from 6.0 to 7.5. The average annual flower yield is 1 - 7 tonnes per hectare, and the essential oil yield is 0.1 - 0.2%. Jasmine flowers are picked manually between dawn and 10 a.m., during the hot season in India, even between 3 - 8 a.m. Preferably only half-opened and fresh, fully opened flowers must be picked, not buds or old (yellowish) flowers, as these will depress the essential oil quality. Although rain makes the flowers almost useless, picking flowers in the rain should continue to promote further flowering . An experienced picker can harvest 0.5 kg flowers per hour, but the pickers are usually young women and children, who achieve 2 kg in 5 hours . Jasmine flowers must be quickly processed since delay substantially reduces essential oil content. Flowers should be kept shaded and cool between picking and processing, and the processing facility should be close to the plantation. Freshly picked flowers can be stored in polythene bags at 15°c without yield loss, quality or odour. Jasmine oil can be obtained from flowers by steam distillation, but the yield is very low. Jasmine concrete is obtained from flowers, formerly by enfleurage, currently by solvent extraction. In solvent extraction, flowers are washed up to 3 times with petroleum ether or, preferably, with hydrocarbon-free food-grade hexane; the extract is then distilled to remove the solvent, resulting in the concrete. Concrete is usually produced at the plantation, but absolute is produced where convenient, often in another country. Plants can flower all year round. The flowers are exceptionally fragrant. This species is the national flower of the Philippine Islands. Jasminum sambac contains dotriacontanoic acid, dotriacontanol, oleanolic acid, daucosterol, hesperidin, and [+]-jasminoids A, B, C, D in its roots. Leaves contain flavonoids such as rutin, quercetin and isoquercetin, flavonoids rhamnoglycosides as well as a-amyrin and ß-sitosterol. A novel plant cysteine-rich peptide family named jasmintides were isolated from this plant. Cultivars of Jasminum sambac include: 'Maid of Orleans', 'Belle of India', Grand Duke of Tuscany','Butt Mograw','Mysore Mallige','Arabian Nights'.
Propagating it: The seed does not require pre-treatment and is best sown in a partially shaded position as soon as ripe . Cuttings 12 - 20cm long should be taken from terminal shoots; treatment with a root stimulator increases the strike rate . Semi-ripe cuttings, 8cm long, placed in a sandy medium, usually root within four weeks . Cuttings taken from shoot tips have given better results than semi-ripe cuttings. They are generally treated with a fungicide, placed in prepared planting holes and watered . Layering in the field is done with one-year-old shoots; a slanting cut is made approximately halfway through the shoot, some 50cm from the end; the cut is buried about 10 - 15cm deep with the top remaining above ground. After about 4 - 6 months, the rooted layers can be separated from the parent plant and transplanted .
Best place to grow:
Habit: Shrub
Hardiness: 9-12
Growth: Medium
Soil: Light (sandy), medium
Shade: Semi-shade, no shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
Toxicity: The LD50 of jasmine extract is greater than 5 mg/kg by weight.
It is an environmental and garden weed and has a climbing growth habit that can smother other plants. Currently, this species is listed as invasive in Cuba and Hawaii and Florida in the USA.
Its other names
Local names
Arabian Jasmine, Adukkumalli, Banmallika, Boddumalle, Chamba, Checupichakam, Diamela, Elusuttu mallige, Geta pichcha, Gundumalle, Gundumalli, Iruvantige, Jessamine, Kolumallige, Kudamulla, Kudumalligai, Mali laa, Mali, Maliwan, Mallika, Manmathabanmu, Mawk-sam-pai, Melati, Mlis, Mo li hua, Moghra, Mogra, Moli flower, Mollokhoi, Motia, Nallamulla, Pikake, Pitasi, Sabe, Sabe-gyi, Sampagita, Sujimallige, Te bitati, Virupakschi.
Synonyms
J. bicorollatum Noronha. J. blancoi Hassk. J. fragrans Salisb. [Illegitimate]. J. heyneanum Wall. ex G.Don. J. odoratum Noronha. J. pubescens Buch.-Ham. ex Wall. [Invalid]. J. quadrifolium Buch.-Ham. ex Wall. [Invalid]. J. quinqueflorum B.Heyne ex G.Don. J. sanjurium Buch.-Ham. ex DC. [Invalid]. J. undulatum (L.) Willd. J. zambac Roxb. [Spelling variant]. Mogorium gimea . Zuccagni. Mogorium goaense Zuccagni. Mogorium sambac (L.) Lam. Mogorium undulatum (L.) Lam. Nyctanthes goa Steud. Nyctanthes sambac L. Nyctanthes undulata L.