Trachelospermum jasminoides
(star-jasmine)

Preferred Common Name

• star-jasmine

Other Scientific Names

• Parechites adnascens Hance
• Parechites thunbergii A.Gray
• Rhynchospermum jasminoides LINDL.
• Trachelospermum adnascens Hance
• Trachelospermum bowringii (Hance) Hemsl.
• Trachelospermum divaricatum Kanitz
• Trachelospermum jasminoides var. heterophyllum Tsiang
• Trachelospermum jasminoides var. pubescens Makino
• Trachelospermum jasminoides var. variegatum W.T. Mill.

International Common Names

• English: Asiatic jasmine; Chinese star jessamine; Confederate jasmine; Japanese star jasmine; small leaf confederate jasmine; star jasmine
• Chinese: luo shi

Local Common Names

• Germany: Sternjasmin
• USA/Hawaii: maile haole

EPPO code

• TCHJA (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Gentianales
•                         Family: Apocynaceae
•                             Genus: Trachelospermum
•                                 Species: Trachelospermum jasminoides

The family Apocynaceae includes about 400 genera and 4,555 species distributed mostly across tropical to warm temperate regions the world (Stevens, 2012). Members of this family are characterized by the presence of “milky latex” and include trees, shrubs, vines and rarely subshrubs and herbs. Trachelospermum comprises about 15 species of woody lianas: one in North America and the others circumscribed to Asia (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2017). The botanical name and many of the common names of T. jasminoides reflect the scented, jasmine-like flowers of this species.

Lianas woody, to 10 m. Stem brownish, lenticellate; young branchlets pubescent, glabrous when older. Petiole 3-12 mm long; leaf blade ovate to obovate or narrowly elliptic, 2-10 X 1-4.5 cm, papery, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent abaxially. Cymes paniculate, terminal and axillary; peduncle 2-6 cm, puberulent to glabrous. Sepals narrowly oblong, 2-5 mm, spreading or reflexed, pubescent outside, ciliate, apex obtuse or acute. Corolla white, tube dilated at middle, 5-10 mm, throat glabrous or pilose facing stamens; lobes obovate, as long as tube. Stamens included, inserted at middle of corolla tube; ovary glabrous. Follicles linear, 10-25 cm X 3-10 mm. Seeds oblong, 1.5-2 cm, coma 1.5-4 cm (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2017). 

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• acid
• alkaline
• neutral

Soil texture

• light
• medium

T. jasminoides spreads by seeds and vegetatively by cuttings, stem fragments and layering. This species self-layers, sending out roots from leaf nodes and stem tips wherever they touch the ground (PFAF, 2017). Stem fragments can be dispersed as garden waste (Gilman, 1999; Clifford and Kobayashi, 2010).

Natural Dispersal (Non-Biotic)

Seeds are mainly dispersed by wind and water, aided by the silky coma (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2017).

Accidental Introduction

Stem fragments dumped in garden waste (Gilman, 1999; Clifford and Kobayashi, 2010).

Intentional introduction

T. jasminoides is a popular ornamental plant that has been widely introduced and commercialized in the horticultural trade (TGA Australia, 2017; USDA-ARS, 2017; Wellington NL, 2017).

Currently, T. jasminoides is listed as invasive only in the Bahamas, where it has escaped from cultivation and is smothering native vegetation. This species is an aggressive liana that grows forming dense colonies that engulf native vegetation, climbing high into forest canopies and shading-out native herbs, shrubs, and trees in the understory. This species may also impact forest communities by making trees top heavy and subject to falling (BEST, 2003; BEST, 2013). The whole plant is poisonous (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2017). It is found in a weed in Chinese gardens, where it grows on walls and trees (Useful Tropical Plants, 2017).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Long lived
• Fast growing
• Gregarious
• Reproduces asexually

• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Modification of successional patterns
• Monoculture formation
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading
• Competition - smothering
• Competition - strangling
• Poisoning
• Rapid growth
• Rooting

• Highly likely to be transported internationally accidentally
• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately
• Difficult to identify/detect as a commodity contaminant

T. jasminoides is commonly grown as a climbing ornamental and as a ground cover. It is often used as coverage on walls and fences around houses, gardens, cemeteries and recreational parks (TGA Australia, 2017). In Asia, a strong bast fibre obtained from the inner bark is used in making rope, sacks, and paper. The stem is used for the treatment of rheumatism and injury. The flowers yield perfumed oil (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2017; USDA-ARS, 2017).