The common jasmine is a climber with white, intensely perfumed flowers, one of the most prized ornamental plants in Mediterranean gardens.
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Lamiales |
| Family | Oleaceae |
| Genus | Jasminum |
| Species | Jasminum officinale |
It is a woody climbing plant, semi-evergreen or deciduous depending on the climate, with leaves made up of several dark green leaflets. Its flowers, grouped in small clusters, are white, star-shaped and have a sweet, intense fragrance.
It flowers continuously from late spring until well into autumn, climbing by means of its twining stems over walls, pergolas and trellises.
It is native to the Caucasus, Persia and southern Asia, from where it spread as an ornamental plant throughout the Mediterranean. It has been cultivated in Spanish gardens for centuries, where it has become naturalised in some places.
Its flowers have been used since antiquity in perfumery to extract one of the most highly valued essential oils in the world. Jasmine is also the national flower of Pakistan and a traditional symbol of purity and love in many cultures of Asia and the Mediterranean.
