The Carolina yellow jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) J. Saint-Hilaire) is native to the southeastern U.S. from Virginia down the coast to Texas, and into Mexico and Guatemala. The Gelsemium are one of those odd discontinuous groups--there are three species; two are native to North America and one, Gelsemium elegans, is native to Southeast Asia. Carolina jessamine was originally named Bignonia sempervirens by Linnaeus in 1753; Antoine Laurent de Jussieu renamed the genus in 1789. Gelsemium is a Latinized form of the Italian gelsemino meaning jasmine.

As its species epithet "always green" suggests, Carolina jessamine retains its shiny opposite leaves through the winter. The vine climbs by twining counter-clockwise around its support. Carolina jessamine blooms in early spring starting in late February in Florida and in April in Virginia. When in bloom, the vine has been described as "strikingly beautiful" and "a handsome climber"; the yellow funnel-form flowers are also extremely fragrant.

Carolina jessamine makes a good screen vine for porches, gazebos, and arbors. It is not a vine that gets out-of-hand. It is almost carefree in that it has very few pests and needs little training. It provides a pleasant shade year round and is a truly "Southern experience" when it is blooming. The plant has been in the nursery trade for many years and there are a number of cultivars like 'Pride of Augusta', 'Woodlander's Pale Yellow', 'Major Wheeler', 'Leo', and 'Margarita'.