The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Jasmine

Scientific Names

Jasmine

  • Jasminum officinale L.
  • Oleaceae
  • Olive family

Common Names

  • Jasmine plant
  • So-hsing (Chinese name)
  • Yellow Jasmine

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Parts Usually Used

Flowers
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Jasmine is a vinelike plant that has opposite, dark green, pinnate leaves and sweet-smelling white flowers.
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Where Found

Grows in warm parts of the eastern hemisphere and now cultivated in gardens in the southern United States.
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Medicinal Properties

Calmative
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Jasmine, originating in the Near East, takes its name from the Persian word jesamin. Its beautiful white flower is most famous for the perfumes made from its oil. In the first century AD, Dioscorides, a Greek physician and author of the famous book on medical herbs De Materia Medica, tells us that the Persians used jasmine oil to perfume the air at their banquets. To the Chinese the jasmine symbolizes womanly sweetness. In medieval Christian art, jasmine was associated with the Virgin Mary. Dreaming of jasmine is supposed to portend good fortune, especially in love.

According to folk lore, rubbing the body with the oil of jasmine can be sexually arousing.
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Uses

According to old herbals, jasmine flowers calm the nerves. However, others suggest that the scent arouses erotic interests, and a few drops of jasmine oil (if you can afford it) massaged on the body with some almond oil may be soothing. In India, jasmine is used as a remedy for snakebite, and the leaves are used for eye problems.

Other varieties: The Yellow Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is considered an analgesic, reduces blood pressure, is a sedative, and eases neuralgia. But caution should be noted. An overdose can cause nausea and double vision. One reference states this herb is a powerful CNS-depressant and is a deadly poison. Eating a single flower has resulted in death. It can also cause contact dermatitis.

Jasmine flowers (J. grandiflorum) (Sanskrit name is Jati) is used for emotional disturbances, headaches, fever, sunstroke, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, cystitis, bleeding disorders, bacterial infections, viral infections, cancer of the lymph nodes, cancer of the bones, and Hodgkin’s disease.
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Formulas or Dosages

Infusion: steep 1 to 2 tsp. jasmine flowers in 1 cup water. Take 1 cup per day.
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How Sold

Many jasmine teas are sold today. Drink 1 cup per day.
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Warning

Use this herb under medical supervision.
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Bibliography

Buy It! The Complete Medicinal Herbal, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993

Buy It! Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible, by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

Buy It! The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

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