A deciduous shrub of rambling habit, growing 12 to 15 ft high against a wall, with long, slender, pendulous, glabrous, four-angled branchlets. Leaves opposite, composed of three leaflets borne on a common stalk about 1⁄4 in. long. Leaflets oval-oblong, 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. long, one-third to half as wide, tapered at both ends, deep lustrous green, not toothed, but furnished at the margin when young with tiny hairs. Flowers bright yellow, 3⁄4 to 1 in. diameter, produced from November to February; they are solitary on stalks 1⁄4 in. long, clothed with several small, narrow green bracts. Corolla tubular at the base and nearly 1 in. long, spreading into six divisions. Calyx-lobes six, linear, pointed.
Native of China; introduced by Fortune for the Horticultural Society in 1844. A very hardy plant, of great value in gardens because of its habit of flowering during the very darkest months. No plant does so much to lighten up in midwinter dull suburban streets of London, and the fact that it will thrive in such places adds much to its worth. It blossoms best against a sunny wall, but, after warm summers especially, flowers very freely in the open ground. A pleasing arrangement is to plant it in association with Mahonia aquifolium, against whose purplish winter-shade of leaf the leafless flower-laden sprays of this jasmine are peculiarly bright and effective.
J. nudiflorum is not by nature a climber, nor does it produce self-supporting stems. The leading shoots should be fixed to the wall and periodically replaced by younger growths, careful training and spacing being more important than annual pruning. On steep sites, where there are high retaining walls, it should be planted at the top of the wall and allowed to grow downward, as is its natural propensity.
cv. ‘Aureum’. – Leaves blotched with yellow.