The China-box or orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack) is a large, multi-trunked shrub/small tree in the Rutaceae, the rue or citrus family. The leaves are pinnately compound with three to nine leaflets arranged alternately along the rachis. The evergreen leaves are dark green and make a dramatic backdrop for the highly fragrant 'orange-blossom' flowers. The shrub blooms most of the year. The flowers are followed by small oval red fruits with one or two seeds. The shrub is usually propagated from seed.
Like other members of the Rutaceae, the orange jasmine has secondary compounds used medicinally. The bark was an ingredient in Indian cosmetics. The leaves were used as a stimulant and decongestant. The astringency treated dysentery and bleeding wounds. The plant was considered beneficial for joint pain and general body aches. The slender twigs were used as chew sticks—the ends chewed to fray the wood fibers and rubbed against the teeth to clean them.
The orange jasmine has a native range from India and China through Southeast Asia and Malaysia to northern Australia. Due to the enticing fragrance, the shrub is cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics. The shrubs can take shearing and are often used in hedges, hence the name, China-box. In many areas, the plant escapes cultivation and is now considered an exotic pest plant on many Pacific islands and in southern Florida.
(Compiled from: "Murraya", Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, 1976; "Murraya paniculata", Edward F. Gilman, IFAS, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, Oct. 1999; "Murraya exotica L.", John K. Francis, USDA, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, San Juan, PR; and Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening, Norman Taylor, 4th Ed. Houghton Mifflin, 1961)
