. Common plants of longleaf pine-bluestem range. Plant ecology; Grasses; Forage plants. CAROLINA JESSAMINE Gelsemium semper-virens (L.) Ait. f. Carolina jessamine, or yellow jessamine, is a common native evergreen vine. It is not closely related to the cultivated jessamines or jasmines of the genera Jasminium and Cestrum. Carolina jessamine may inhabit all except dry, open, sandy areas. It grows best in wooded stream bottoms. In forests, plants often climb 20 feet or higher on trees. On moist, sparsely timbered sites, they may form loose mats on the ground and on low shrubs. Climbing is by twi
. Common plants of longleaf pine-bluestem range. Plant ecology; Grasses; Forage plants. CAROLINA JESSAMINE Gelsemium semper-virens (L.) Ait. f. Carolina jessamine, or yellow jessamine, is a common native evergreen vine. It is not closely related to the cultivated jessamines or jasmines of the genera Jasminium and Cestrum. Carolina jessamine may inhabit all except dry, open, sandy areas. It grows best in wooded stream bottoms. In forests, plants often climb 20 feet or higher on trees. On moist, sparsely timbered sites, they may form loose mats on the ground and on low shrubs. Climbing is by twining of the rapidly growing terminal shoot. The slender stems are reddish brown, often with a whitish bloom. Leaves are opposite with lance- shaped blades 1 to 3 inches long and up to % inch wide. Upper surfaces are a dull, light green; lower surfaces are pale. Blades are thinner than those of most evergreen plants. Stems and leaves are hair- less. Scaly-stalked clusters, with two to six flowers each, arise from leaf axils on shoots produced the previous season. Flowering begins in late winter, before the start of vegetative growth, and continues until midspring. Five sepals, each about 3/16 inch long, appear separate but are actually joined bas- ally. Petals fuse into a funnel-shaped tube about 1 inch long with five shallow lobes. Flowers are fra- grant. The fruit is a capsule xk to .% inch long with a short beak at the tip. At maturity the capsule splits into two valves and releases numerous flat, winged seeds, each about % inch long. All parts of the plant contain alkaloids related to strychnine. Although these are considered pois- onous to all kinds of livestock and to humans, deer browsing the foliage are apparently unaffected. Poisoning of cattle is rare, possibly because the vines frequently climb beyond reach of grazing animals. Range: Southeastern Texas and Arkansas to Florida and southeastern Virginia. Stems glabrous, twining, commonly climbing to 6 m. or forming tang
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, booksubjectforageplants, booksubjectgrasses
