| Orange jasmine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Foliage and flowers | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Murraya |
| Species: | M. paniculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Murraya paniculata | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
Homotypic Synonyms
Heterotypic Synonyms
| |
Murraya paniculata, commonly known asorange jasmine,orange jessamine,china box ormock orange, is a species of shrub or small tree in the familyRutaceae and isnative to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia. It has smooth bark,pinnate leaves with up to seven egg-shaped to elliptical leaflets, fragrant white or cream-coloured flowers and oval, orange-red berries containing hairy seeds.
Murraya paniculata is a tree that typically grows to a height of 7 m (23 ft) but often flowers and forms fruit as a shrub, and has smooth pale to whitish bark. It has pinnate leaves up to 170 mm (6.7 in) long with up to seven egg-shaped to elliptical orrhombus-shaped. The leaflets are glossy green andglabrous, 25–100 mm (0.98–3.94 in) long and 12–50 mm (0.47–1.97 in) wide on apetiolule 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) long.[3][4][5][6]
The flowers are fragrant and are arranged in loose groups, each flower on apedicel 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long. There are five (sometimes four)sepals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and five (sometimes four) white or cream-coloured petals 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in) long. and the fruit is an oval, glabrous, orange-red berry 12–14 mm (0.47–0.55 in) long containing densely hairy seeds.[3][4][5][6]
Flowering occurs from June to March in Australia, and the fruit ripen between January and October.[4][7] In the northern hemisphere flowering occurs from April to October and fruit ripen from April to February.[8]
This species was first described and illustrated byGeorg Eberhard Rumphius in the latter half of the 17th century during his time in what was then known as theDutch East Indies, and published posthumously in 1747.[9] However the firstformal description was produced in 1767 by the Swedish botanistCarl Linnaeus who gave it the nameChalcas paniculata and published it in his bookMantissa Plantarum, which is an appendix to the12th edition of his earlier workSystema Naturae.[10][11] In 1820 the Scottish botanistWilliam Jack changed the name toMurraya paniculata in his bookDescriptions of Malayan Plants [Malayan Miscellanies].[12][13]
Murraya paniculata grows in rainforest, often as anunderstorey shrub in vine thickets, including behind beaches. It is native toSouth andSoutheast Asia, China andAustralasia, while the distribution area extends from Pakistan via India, Sri Lanka and southern China to Taiwan, the Philippines, where it is calledkamuníng,[14] theRyūkyū Islands and theMariana Islands, to the south via Malaysia and Indonesia to New Guinea and parts of Australia.[4][2] In Australia, it is native to theKimberley region ofWestern Australia, northern parts of theNorthern Territory, and parts ofQueensland.[15][16] The species has been naturalised in other places, sometimes becoming an invasive weed, including on many Pacific islands.[17] In Queensland, it is regarded as different from the cultivated formMurraya paniculata 'Exotica', which is regarded as one of the most invasive plant species in southeast Queensland.[6]
Murraya paniculata is cultivated as an ornamental tree or hedge because of its hardiness, wide range of soil tolerance (M. paniculata may grow inalkaline, clayey, sandy,acidic andloamy soils), and is suitable for larger hedges. The plant flowers throughout the year and produces small, fragrant flower clusters which attract bees, while the fruits attract smallfrugivorous birds.[5]
The orange jessamine is sexuallypropagated by its seeds. The fruits are eaten by birds, which then pass the seeds out in theirfeces. It may also be asexually propagated by softwood cuttings.[5]
This species is one of the preferred hosts of the citrus pestDiaphorina citri, the citrus psyllid, which is the vector for theCitrus greening disease.[17][18]
M. paniculata is vulnerable to soilnematodes, scales,sooty mold andwhiteflies.[5]
