Indoor plants

Tabernaemontana

Family: Apocynaceae. Native to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and Africa (Zimbabwe and Mozambique), Madagascar. The genus includes about 25 species, mostly distributed in coastal areas.

Tabernaemontana divaricata - Tabernaemontana divaricata - an evergreen, well-branched, shrubby or tree-like plant; it has large glossy dark green opposite leaves about 15-20 cm long, oblong in shape, pointed at the tip. The transverse veins are clearly prominent on the underside of the leaf. The branches on the shrub are arranged almost horizontally. Flowers are white, the corolla five-lobed, the petals slightly twisted in a spiral, simple or double. The fragrance of the flowers is very persistent, reminiscent of jasmine, and the scent becomes especially stronger at night. Overall the plant resembles jasmine in appearance, so they are often confused. In fact these two plants have nothing in common, but the main difference is quite simple — when a leaf or stem of Tabernaemontana is broken, a milky sap is released, which does not occur in jasmine. The fruit is pod-like, more precisely like two swollen fused pods, dark green to almost brown on the outside, smooth or wrinkled, sometimes with light speckles, and the flesh is orange and juicy.

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