Jasmine (Parsonsia species)
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae (Dogbane family)
Genus: Parsonsia
Scientific name: Parsonsia species
Common name: Native jasmine, akakiore
This plant is in the genus of Parsonsia which are woody vines of the dogbane family. Parsonsia is evergreen soft wooded, twining, branching liana growing up to 10 meters tall. Its stem can be up to 10cm and the branchlets are hairy and reddish brown in colour. It is called the native jasmine for its pervasive perfume. It has small fragrant creamy 6-10mm flowers for a very long period, profusely in spring and then more intermittently through summer and autumn. These are followed by elongated pod-like capsules, the two follicles eventually separating to reveal numerous seeds with long silky hairs. It has dark green leaves which are shiny on the upper surface and are pale on the undersides. The leaves are opposite.
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