I've been finding out about night-blooming jasmine. A house down the road from us here in Mozaga has it in their garden, and the sweet scent is quite incredible.
It is aptly named because its white-yellow, tubular flowers bloom at night; the flowers close during the day. It belongs to the nightshade or potato family of plants and is known for its scent: quite possibly the strongest scented plant in the world and can pervade the area within 300-500 ft of the plant.
It is a sub-tropical plant, first discovered growing in the West Indies and was quite possibly brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century.
Moths usually pollinate night-blooming jasmine. Using the white flowers as reflectors on a moonlit night, moths are attracted to the plant's scent and descend on the blossoms. These specialised hovering insects insert their proboscis, or tongue, into the tubular flower for nectar.
It grows very well in Lanzarote and in other subtropical regions around the world, where the winter temperatures do not fall below -10oC
Its sweet smell is as good as valium at calming the nerves with none of the side effects, according to new research!
It also goes by the name of 'Queen of the Night'. Here is my Queen of the Night Haiku:
trembling in moon mist
mysterious night bloom scent
- sweet valium dream
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