Orange Jessamine

Orange Jessamine

Murraya paniculata

Common Name:

Orange Jessamine

Scientific Name:

Murraya paniculata


Alternative common names:

Orange Jessamine, Chinese box, Mock orange, Mock lime, Satinwood.

Description:

Orange Jessamine is a small, tropical, evergreen tree or shrub growing up to 7 m tall. The plant flowers throughout the year. Its leaves are glabrous and glossy, occurring in 3-7 oddly pinnate leaflets which are elliptic to cuneate-obovate to rhombic.

Additional Information


Where does this species come from?

Southeast Asia, China and Australasia.

What is its invasive status in South Africa?

NEMBA category 1b

Where in South Africa is it a problem?

KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

How does it spread?

These seeds are most commonly spread by birds and other animals that eat the brightly-coloured fruit. They may also be dispersed in dumped garden waste

Why is it a problem?

The preferred host to the insect pest Diaphorina citri, the citrus psyllid. This psyllid is the vector for the citrus greening disease.

What does it look like?

Leaves: The leaves are alternately arranged along the stems and borne on stalks. These leaves are once-compound with 3-9 leaflets. The glossy leaflets are narrowly oval to somewhat egg-shaped in outline. They have entire margins, wedge-shaped bases, and pointed tips

Flowers: The fragrant flowers are borne in clusters, containing up to eight flowers, at the tips of the branches or in the upper leaf forks.

Fruit/seeds: The fruit is an egg-shaped to oval berry about 10 mm long. They turn from green to orange or bright red in colour as they mature and contain one or two dull, yellowish-grey or greenish, teardrop-shaped seeds.

Does the plant have any uses?

It is widely cultivated as a garden and hedging plant

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