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JASMINE
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Jasmine is the common name given to a large number of plants, many of them unrelated. The poet's, or common, jasmine, Jasminum officinale, of the olive family, is a tropical and subtropical plant that probably originated in the Middle East and is now cultivated principally in France, Morocco, and Italy. The fragrant jasmine odor can be extracted (see ESSENTIAL OILS) and is one of the most widely used scents in the making of perfume. The flowers of Arabian jasmine, J. sambac, are used to scent and flavor tea. The nectar of the fragrant flowers of Carolina jasmine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is poisonous, although its dried roots are used in medicinal preparations as a sedative.
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