Jasmine

Jasmine is a genus in the family Oleaceae which includes more than 300 varieties. It originates from China and North America, as well as India and some mediterranean areas. It is a climbing shrub that produces tubular, starry, five-petalled flowers with a characteristic and intense sweet scent, They are generally pure white, although yellow and pink-shaded varieties exist as well. According to the tradition, for a long time the family Medici safeguarded a unique specimen of this plant forbidding its circulation until a gardener furtively offered a twig to his beloved. She later became rich and the two could eventually marry: hence the custom of giving a bundle of Jasmine as a gift to brides.