Thursday, February 18, 2010

Yellow Jasmine (Jessamine)

Yellow Jasmine has been South Carolina's state flower since February 1, 1924 because of several reasons. It is one of the first bloomers of Spring, it is very aromatic, and the yellow color of the flowers resemble purity like gold. Also, it returns every year-even after incredibly harsh winters-symbolizing patriotism.



But with this purity and beauty comes danger. Yellow Jasmine contains very strong alkaloids called gelsemine and gelseminine which are very toxic when someone comes into contact with them. Many children are poisoned each each year because they are often mistaken for Japanese honeysuckle. Little girls also like to make "crowns" of flowers out of them. In one incident, a young girl was in a coma for several weeks after wearing a crown of these beautiful flowers. Even touching the vine and rubbing your eye could cause irritation. So, if you love growing yellow jasmine or have some growing nearby, make sure that you know this plant is a look but don't touch species.

1 comment:

  1. That was very interesting. I enjoy reading about native plants. I spent years looking for blood root. I hadn't seen one since I picked one in the woods at the age of eight. I was convinced I'd made them extinct, but I encountered one two years ago in the woods behind a friends house. Apparently deer like to eat them, so if you don't get to where they are before the deer you miss seeing them. A slide show of all my flowers goes on my blog in the spring. Thanks for your comment.

    ReplyDelete