Native Plants

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Monday - April 27, 2009

From: Federal Way, WA
Region: Northwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Problems with non-native Star jasmine
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

My Jasmine leaves are turning red. I think it's a Star Jasmine as it get those pretty little white fragrant flowers that look like a star. What is causing this and is it something I should be concerned with? If it's a disease, how would I treat it? Thank you Sue

ANSWER:

There are three plants native to North America with "jasmine" in one of their common names. They are:

Androsace chamaejasme ssp. lehmanniana (Lehmann's rockjasmine) - native to Alaska and Montana

Androsace septentrionalis (pygmyflower rockjasmine) - native to Washington

Clematis crispa (swamp leather flower) - not native to Washington

You can follow the links to these plants, and look at the pictures, but we're pretty sure your plant is none of the above. The description sounds like Trachelospermum jasminoides, also known as Star jasmine, or Confederate jasmine.This plant, in spite of the common names, is not native to North America. At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we only deal with plants native not only to North America but also to the area in which they are being grown. Since we have no information in our Native Plant Database on plants outside our expertise, we are referring you to this Floridata website, Trachelospermum jasminoides for more information and the possible answer to your question.

Androsace chamaejasme ssp. lehmanniana

Androsace septentrionalis