Yet another lovely flowering plant from South Africa! The Starry Wild Jasmine, Jasminum multipartitum, grows wild over a wild region from the Eastern Cape Province, through most of Kwazulu-Natal to the northern provinces of South Africa – Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northwest Province. It also occurs in Swaziland. It belongs to the Olive Family, and thus is a relative of the African Wild Olive. Also, it is a true jasmine. About 200 species of jasmine in the genus Jasminum occur in Africa, Australia, southern Asia and southern Europe. There are about ten species of jasmine indigenous to South Africa. The native habitat of this species is woodland, savannah, thickets and rocky hillsides. Their stems grow through the branches of surrounding trees and bushes, so finding support and reaching towards the sun.

This species most often grows as a scrambling or climbing shrub. When it doesn't have a tree or anything else to support it, the thin stems will support each other and it will grow into a large spreading shrub up to 3 m/10' in height and 5 m/17' in width. Its leaves are simple (that is to say not divided into leaflets) and dark, glossy green, with wavy margins. They're quite attractive on their own, but of course the real attraction of this plant comes from its flowers!

As you might gather from the name, the flowers look like little white stars, reaching 4 cm/1/6" in diameter. They start out as reddish to pinkish buds, the petals being that colour on the outside, but as they open they show the all-white inner surface of the petals. Only inside the tube does the red colour return. The flowers emerge in the spring and cover the vines and bushes completely. They are strongly and sweetly fragrant, the fragrance becoming more powerful towards evening and night-time. This draws the moths that pollinate them from great distances. These and other insects attracted by the flowers in turn attract insect-eating birds.

Once pollinated the flowers are followed by the small, black, fleshy fruits, usually two together for each flower, but sometimes just one. These attract fruit-eating birds. Humans, too, will seek out and eat the fruit during times of famine. The leaves are beloved by browsing mammals, but also by the larvae of a variety of butterflies and moths, including the Deaths-Head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos. Humans use this jasmine for making herbal tea, fragrant baths and potpourri. They're also traditionally used for making love charms. Sprigs of jasmine buds and flowers can be used in flower arrangements. The related Persian species Jasminum officinale is used for making perfume.

Growing the Starry Wild Jasmine

The easiest way to propagate this species is from cuttings, made from semi-hardwood during spring or summer, but it can also be grown from seed. It grows in a variety of climates, responding well to regular watering but also able to withstand a long winter drought. It can also tolerate moderate frost, but will lose some of its leaves during a long, cold winter. It grows best in light shade but will grow in full sun. Given room it forms a large free-standing shrub, but if there is a tree, fence, or trellis nearby it will use that as support to scramble up. It grows rapidly, the stems lengthening at least 1 m/yard a year under good conditions, and will flower at the age of two years. It likes deep, fertile, well-draining soil. It is best pruned after flowering to keep it neat.

Colours of Wildlife Archive

Willem

29.09.14 Front Page

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