Description

Orange jasmine commonly known as , orange jessamine, china box or mock orange, is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rutaceae and is native to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia. It has smooth bark, pinnate leaves with up to seven egg-shaped to elliptical leaflets, fragrant white or cream-coloured flowers and oval, orange-red berries containing hairy seeds.

Characteristics:

Orange jasmine is a tree that typically grows to a height of 7 m (23 ft) but often flowers and forms fruit as a shrub, and has smooth pale to whitish bark. It has pinnate leaves up to 170 mm (6.7 in) long with up to seven egg-shaped to elliptical or rhombus-shaped. The leaflets are glossy green and glabrous, 25–100 mm (0.98–3.94 in) long and 12–50 mm (0.47–1.97 in) wide on a petiolule 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) long. The flowers are fragrant and are arranged in loose groups, each flower on a pedicel 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long. There are five (sometimes four) sepals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and five (sometimes four) white or cream-coloured petals 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in) long. Flowering occurs from June to March (in Australia) and the fruit is an oval, glabrous, orange-red berry 12–14 mm (0.47–0.55 in) long containing densely hairy seeds.

Medicinal Uses:

The ground bark of stem is used as antidote in snake bites while ground root is used to cure body ache. The leaves are stimulant, astringent and utilized by the local community for relief from diarrhea and dysentery. It is also used to treat cough, hysteria and rheumatism. It is taken as drink for the treatment of venom bite or as a scrubber on bitted limb. The root and bark is chewed and rubbed to skin to cure body aches. The crushed leaf is applied on fresh cuts, and drunk in dropsy as remedy. It can be used in treatment of toothache, stomachache and gout. It has abortive function and used in treatment of venereal disease