Jasminum fluminense Vell.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Oleaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Jasminum fluminense Vell.

  • Description

    Species Description - Twining woody vine to 6 m long, many-branched along main stem; twigs cylindric, glabrous to tomentose. Leaves opposite, trifoliolate, 5-10 cm long; leaflets 2-5 x 2-3.5 cm (terminal leaflets larger than the basal ones), broadly ovate, the upper surface puberulent, the lower surface with tufts of hairs in vein angles, the apex acute to acuminate, the base subtruncate or obtuse, the margins entire; petiolules and petioles tomentose, the petioles 0.5- 2 cm long. Flowers in terminal or axillary cymes; axes densely tomentose; bracteoles elliptic-ovate, involute, sharp-tipped, densely tomentose; pedicels 3-4 mm long. Calyx green, funnelform, sparsely tomentose, 4-9-lobed, the lobes sharply acuminate; corolla white, salverform, 1.5-2.5 cm long, 4-9-lobed, the lobes narrowly oblong with bluntly acute tips; stamens 2, the filaments with an apiculate connective extending beyond the anther, the anthers elongate, the anther lobe apices narrowed; ovary 4-lobed, the style borne on raised swollen tissue, the stigma elongate, 2-lobed. Berry purple or blue-black, shiny, globose, 5-8 mm diam.

  • Distribution

    A naturalized species, occasional in open, disturbed sites. Road to Bordeaux (A2892, A3839). A native of tropical Africa, but this plant was first described from Brazil and is now naturalized throughout the tropics.

    Brazil South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Africa|