Botanical Accuracy: A jasmine is not always a jasmine...

Saturday, December 7, 2013

A jasmine is not always a jasmine...

Jasmine (Jasminum) is a wonderfully and strongly scented flowering plant in the olive family (Oleaceae) and its essential oil has been used for millenia as a perfume. Jasmine flowers are usually white, have five to ten petals and always two stamens in each flower, and they are often hidden in a narrow corolla tube. The plants grow as viny shrubs. Having only two stamens is a character that is consistent for all olive family members, like olive (of course), lilacs, fringe trees, and goldenbells - and jasmine. A few jasmine mutant cultivars have filled flowers, so they have more petals of course.

Typical jasmine flower (Jasminum).
(cc) KENSEI on Wikipedia

The problem is that there is a similar genus, mock orange (Philadelphus), which also have white, 4-petaled flowers, and is gorgeously scented. This commonly cultivated garden shrub is not in the olive family, but in the hydrangea family (Hydrangeaceae), and have lots and lots of stamens inside each flower. The stamens are the yellow 'fluff' in the center of each flower in the photo below. In Swedish, the common name for mock orange is 'schersmin', and in English it is called 'false jasmine' obviously influenced by the true jasmine and similar scent and flower color.

Typical mock orange flower (Philadelphus).
(cc) Epibase on Wikipedia

So jasmine and mock orange are really easy to tell apart, and they are not closely related plants, but they still get mixed up over and over on food, cosmetics and other product labels. True jasmine is commonly used in cosmetics and should be listed as various Jasminum extracts and oils on the ingredient label according to the INCI database. Philadelphus flower extract is also approved as an INCI-listed ingredient and used as skin conditioning agent, but it is not listed as 'jasmine' or similar in INCI. So generally speaking, if something smells nice and is called jasmine-something, then it should include Jasminum and have a picture of Jasminum on it, not Philadelphus. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

What really is scary is when the producers and sellers of the raw extracts and compounds don't know how to identify the images they use to promote their raw materials sold wholesale to other companies. M K Exports India sells 'jasmine oil', and illustrates it with this inaccurate figure:

Jasmine oil illustrated with the wrong flowers - the flowers are from mock orange.
Screenshot from M K Exports India's website, by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Here are some more examples of inaccuracies on labels and in advertising:


Jasmine perfume by Taylor of London, showing Philadelphus flowers, not jasmine. © Taylor of London, fair use (link)

Home Scents sells a candle named 'jasmine bouquet', with Philadelphus on the label.
© Home Scents, fair use (link)

Tea forté's Jasmine green tea is illustrated with Philadelphus too.
(c) Tea forté, fair use (link)

I also think the Rock Art Brewery's Jasmine Pale Ale Beer from Vermont has Jasminum in it, and not Philadelphus, but it is hard to know for sure. On the outside label is a Philadelphus flower.

Livestrong.com has a web page on the health benefits of jasmine tea, with a stock photo showing a tea cup with, you guessed it, Philadelphus flowers.


Livestrong's web page on jasmine shows mock orange too. Screenshot from Livestrong.com by BotanicalAccuracy.com

Some companies get it right, of course:

So, the two genera Philadelphus and Jasminus are really easy to tell apart even from small photos, but it is obvious that companies and photographers mixed them up. Both are gorgeous garden or house plants, so it is well-worth to learn the difference between the two.

What is Botanical Accuracy?

Would you care if someone called a cat 'a mouse' in the description of a medieval painting?

Would you care if someone served you horse meat, but said it was beef? I bet you would.

Would you care if the wrong chemical was listed in the ingredient list of your shampoo or cereal?

Would you care if you bought one plant, but got another?

Would you care if there were species or ingredient mistakes in advertising, menus, herbal pills, and such things?

Would you care if books on plants are illustrated with the wrong plants?

If so, here is the place for you to read about such problems in the world of plants and plant products, where unfortunately such mistakes, inaccuracies, and problems are not uncommon. This is usually due to lack of botanical knowledge or expertise, or sometimes because of plain ignorance.

Inaccuracies are common when it comes to plants, because it seems like we humans care to learn less about green things like trees, flowers, and herbs than we care to learn about animals, even when we eat plants, paint them, plant them, extract their chemicals, or use them in numerous other ways.

Without plants in the world you and I certainly would be dead. Some plants can also kill you with their toxins, so it is best to know which plant is what species. Time to learn some botany!

About mistakes, inaccuracies, and errors

Science is a process of gaining knowledge and understanding of the world around us. It is a never-ending process, and what we think are true facts today might change tomorrow. In science we are aiming for having the best understanding possible today based on what we and our predecessors have learned until now.

This means that what is botanically accurate from a scientific viewpoint might (and will) change. Other experts in the field of botany know a lot more about their particular research plants than I do. New scientific findings and conclusions are being published every day. This is just normal and part of the scientific process; we improve on our knowledge all the time.

The important thing is our willingness to continuously aim for botanical accuracy and the highest scientific standards in our use of names and facts. When things are wrong, let's correct them. Let us not perpetuate wrong botanical knowledge by accepting its incorrect use on commercial products, in everyday language, or in other parts of our contemporary cultures. Through scientific education and specific corrections we will improve botany and science for everybody, in supermarkets, restaurants, and garden centers.

It is the perpetuation of incorrect facts that are the problem, not the need for correction. Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody learns, throughout their lives. We need words to be able to communicate and talk about things, so let's use the right words and the right species names.

Undoubtedly there will be mistakes and errors on this blog, or things that need to be updated. If you want to get in touch, please e-mail me at botanicalaccuracy at gmail.com. If you see a mistake on this blog, e-mail me with the link to the post and an explanation what is incorrect and should be updated. If you represent a company and want to get in touch, please use the same e-mail address.