The Herbarium
Part V · Garden flowers
Herb. No. 240
Arabian jasmine
Jasminum sambac
Oleaceae
Waxy night-scented flowers for scenting tea — a pot plant in zone 6b, a hedge where frost is a rumor.
Jasminum sambac, the tea flower. Not Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium), which is toxic. Name the genus.
- Parts used
- Fresh flower
- Traditional notes
- Scenting tea · Garland · Night perfume
- Grow · USDA 6b
- Tender. Pot and bring in below 40°F. Start from a named cutting. Seed is slow and untrue. In work: Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
- Harvest
- Pick barely-open buds in the evening.
- Name the plant Jasminum. Gelsemium is a poison-garden plate of a different kind.
- Night scent is the harvest. Day-old flowers are a garnish, not a perfume.
Safety
Do not use Gelsemium, yellow jessamine, or any unnamed jasmine-scented vine
Lore
Sampaguita is the national flower of the Philippines. In Fuzhou the tea is a craft of timing: flowers layered, removed, layered again, until the leaf smells like a night garden and the flowers have given everything.
The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.