Yellow Jessamine

Scientific Names

• Gelsemium sempervirens L.
• Gelsemium elegans
• Logania family

Common Names

• Kou-wen (Chinese name)

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Parts Usually Used

Roots
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Twining, tangling, evergreen shrub. Leaves shiny, lance-shaped to oval. Flowers yellow, shaped like an open trumpet with 5 rounded petal lobes that are notched at the end; sweetly fragrant; February to June.
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Where Found

Found in dry or wet woods, thickets. Virginia to Florida; Texas to Arkansas.
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Uses

Root preparations were once used as a powerful central nervous system depressant, deadening pain, reducing spasms. Externally, a folk cancer remedy.
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Warning

Deadly poison. Eating a single flower has resulted in death. Can also cause contact dermatitis. Never use this herb without proper medical supervision.
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Bibliography

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

Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

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