#20. Jasmine in India

Jasminum rex

Jasminum rex

Jasminum sambac 'motia' मोतिया





मोतिया







Jasminum malabaricum , मुद गरा, रान मोगरा.







Wild Jasmine, J. augustifolium, wild jasmine. वन मल्लिका.





Jasminum sambac 'Japanese Rai' मोगरा.





J. sambac 'motia', मोतिया.





मोगरा





मोगरा





मोतिया





J. auriculatum जूही





Jasminum multiflorum कुंद






कुंद






J. grandiflorum. Spanish Chameli






Jasminum officinale चमेली






J. flexile. Sometimes known in Hindi as मालती or चमेली.






Echites caryophyllata. मालती.






J. humile, सोनजुही.





J. nudiflorum





J. odoratissimum






राज चमेली. angel wing jasmine






Japanes primrose

(Picture credit to self, Flowers of India and Wikipedia. Labels denote the flower above it. )

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JASMINES IN INDIA.

Various varieties of Jasmines are found in India, and matching their botanical names to prevalent Hindi names has always been a nightmare to me. Bose and Choudhury's book mentions the following Jasmines in the category of shrubs:
1. Jasminum humile. सोनजुही. There are a few more yellow jasmine varieties like:

(i) J. odoratissimum

(ii) J. nudiflorum: Winter Jasmine

(iii) J. mesnyi: Japanese jasmine, Primrose jasmine. All of them are exotic varieties which have been iiiintrodced.

2. Jasminum pubescens and J. pubescens 'Rubescens' कुंद

It is also known as J. multiflorum. Kund finds wide mention in ancient literature. Good, white set of teeth were compared to kund. Variety Rubescens has petals which are white on the inside and pink on the outside.

3. J. nervosum: wild kund. जंगली कुंद. It is native to Manipur. Wild cousin of #2.
4. Jasminum sambac (Arabian jasmine). बेला
Various varieties are grown in In India:
(a). Japapnese sambac 'Rai' and 'Japanese Rai' मोगरा. The two varieties differ in the size of the flower. Both have compact buds and flowers.
(b). J. sambac 'motia' मोतिया. One of the most popular flowers of North India during the summer months। The flowers are used for garlands as well as for ladies’ hair. Lovely fragrance.

It is presumed that all these varieties are native to India.

In the category of climbers they have mentioned a larger number. Some more I have added. The contribution of Tabish to the list is acknowledged.

*1. Jasminum augustifolium: Wild jasmine.

वन मल्लिका

*2. J. sessiliflorum: Similar to J. augustifolium. Smaller leaves as compared to above.
*3. J. auriculatum जूही. Hindi poets are very fond of this flower.
4. J.flexile: मालती, चमेली.
5. J. grandiflorum (Spanish Jasmine): Grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions, preferably in mild climate, for perfumery industry. It is similar to J. officinale.
*6. Jasminum officinale (white jasmine) चमेली, यास्मीन. Native of Persia, China and North India. True jasmine. It is the national flower of Pakistan (Yasmin), as well as of Philippines (Sampaguita) and Indonesia (Melati).
*7. J. trinerve
*8. J. undulatum

9. J. nitidum: Angelwing jasmine. Royal jasmine. Introduced. Native to Papua New Guinea.

10. J. fluminense: River jasmine, Brazilian jasmine. Introduced. Woody vine.

*11. J. arboriscens: Tree jasmine. नाग मल्लि। Large, usually erect but sometimes climbing shrub. Various parts of the plant used for medicinal purposes.

All the varieties with asterisk are native. J. sambac is also named as Arabic Jasmine, so it could have been initially brought from Arabia, although it has been naturalised centuries ago. It may be noted that the concept and design of formal gardens have been brought to India by Mughals only.
There are reportedly 200 species of Jasmine which are native to tropical and warm climate of the old world. However, several varieties have duplicate names and in truth there seems to about 90 original varieties.

Another flower which is often considered Jasmine is Echites caryophyllata मालती, a large woody climber which flowers profusely in the late summer and rains. It is a native of Florida, Mexico and West Indies.
For some varieties I have not mentioned the Hindi equivalent. I don't know them. I would request the members and readers for any help in this matter. Also any suggestions for improvement and correction are welcome.

Added on 8 April 2011.

Recently I came across another variety of Jamine in my favourite site 'indiantreepix'. This is Jasminum rex, a native of Thailand. The present photographs were taken by Aarti Khale at Kandy (Srilanka). (Pictures are at the top).