Carolina Jessamine
Gelsemium sempervirens
Evergreen twining vine that smothers fences in fragrant yellow trumpets at winter's end. Carefree and drought-tolerant, but every part is poisonous: a single flower has reportedly proved lethal to a child, and the alkaloids can be absorbed through broken skin.
- Family
- Gelsemiaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 12–20 ft
- Spacing
- 3–6 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, alkaline, neutral
- Bloom
- January, February, March, April, May, December
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, hummingbirds, pollinators
- Landscape uses
- hedge or screen, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA