PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Jasminanthes in Tribe Marsdenieae

In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.

Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.

Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).

Do you wish to read more about plant taxonomy? Click here!

Genus Description

Suggest a correction!

The genus Jasminanthes (Blume) belongs to the family Apocynaceae (APG IV, 2016). It contains about fifteen species of twining lianas (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024) ranging from southern China and the Himalaya through mainland Southeast Asia to the Malesian archipelago and the Philippines. The original type species recorded by the Kew nomenclatural database has not been retained under a universally accepted name (POWO, 2024).

Plants are woody climbers producing milky latex. Leaves are opposite, simple, usually glabrous and often bear a pair of minute interpetiolar stipules reduced to glands. Inflorescences are axillary, few‑flowered cymes; the corolla is small, five‑lobed, white to cream, with reflexed lobes and a conspicuous corona of five fleshy lobes. The androecium follows the Apocynaceae pattern, with anthers united into a column bearing pollinia. The ovary is bicarpellary and apocarpous, each carpel containing many ovules on parietal placentation; the fruit is a pair of follicular pods bearing comose seeds suited for wind dispersal (Flora of China, 2008).

Species richness is highest in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and the Philippines, where several island‑endemic taxa occur. Typical habitats are lowland to lower montane rainforest, occasionally on limestone outcrops, from sea level to roughly 1500 m. The distribution follows a classic Sino‑Himalayan–Malesian disjunction, with most taxa confined to the tropical rain‑forest belt.

Intrinsic biology remains incompletely documented. Flower morphology and fragrance imply nocturnal lepidopteran pollination, but direct observations are scarce. Seed dispersal is wind‑mediated by the comose hairs.

In Apocynaceae the genus lies in tribe Asclepiadeae, subtribe Marsdeniinae (Kårehed et al., 2020). Molecular data place Jasminanthes as monophyletic within a broader Hoya clade, prompting several authors to transfer certain species previously placed in Hoya (Kårehed et al., 2020). No formal subgeneric or sectional classification has been widely accepted; some treatments continue to include the group in Hoya (WFO, 2024).

Human relevance is modest. A few species are cultivated for fragrant night‑blooming flowers, but they remain rare in horticulture and have no significant timber or food value.

Conservation assessments are limited; only a minority of species have been evaluated, and habitat loss remains a primary threat (POWO, 2024). Targeted field surveys and ex situ conservation efforts are needed to clarify status and protect remaining populations.

Pick a Species to see its components: