{"id":21759,"date":"2025-06-28T12:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T12:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/21759\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T12:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T12:15:09","slug":"in-praise-of-jasmine-the-quintessential-la-scent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/21759\/","title":{"rendered":"In praise of jasmine, the quintessential LA scent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n

If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve lived here long enough, you\u2019ll know it. You\u2019re out walking in springtime and suddenly your nose will twitch, like a dog getting a scent. It\u2019s that smell! <\/p>\n

Like an olfactory Sherlock Holmes, you begin to track it down, sniffing as you go. Where is it? Over here? Look around the corner\u2026 Yes there it is!<\/p>\n

Jasmine. You plunge your nose into the mass of delicate white flowers and glossy green leaves and inhale the wonder. It\u2019s heady, it\u2019s sensual, it\u2019s intoxicating. Thank you, universe.<\/p>\n

In praise of jasmine, the quintessential LA scent<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Night-blooming Jasmine, Cestrum nocturnum<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Forest & Kim Starr, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small gift that gives its scent generously, and then fades away, yet another reason to be appreciative of the imperfect paradise in which we live. <\/p>\n

Yes, you may smell it while taking in the trash cans, or surrounded by vehicle fumes, but it can somehow transcend your surroundings and turn your life, for that one minute, into something majestic, even mystical.<\/p>\n

For the botanically-curious amongst you, jasmine mostly originates from Asia, introduced to a happy American public in the mid 19th century. So no, it\u2019s not strictly native to SoCal, and if that\u2019s your thing\u2026.well, jasmine\u2019s not for you. <\/p>\n

(Although maybe there should be a carve-out for outsiders who bring something that homegrown can\u2019t offer? Like jasmine. And Bird of Paradise. And a few others. OK, you add to the list).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jasmine in full bloom.<\/p>\n

There are more than 200 species of jasmine, but in terms of that smell\u2026 well, here in L.A, it will most likely be one of two species. (I say likely because I\u2019m sure there are jasmine fanatics out there ready to pounce. I assure you, I come in peace). <\/p>\n

If you come upon a gorgeous scent during the day, it\u2019s likely from Star Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, a fast growing vine that happily spreads across fences or trellises. <\/p>\n

If you come upon an overwhelming fragrance at night, it\u2019s probably from Night-blooming Jasmine, Cestrum nocturnum, an evergreen shrub. <\/p>\n

Apparently they belong to two different plant families, but somehow each worked out how to put similarly enticing scents into the world, which makes us care not a whit about their genealogy.<\/p>\n

While we are sad that jasmine\u2019s star turn is slowly coming to an end, there are some who will be celebrating. Those who sneeze, cough, or blow their nose repeatedly at the very idea of jasmine. People so allergic that they\u2019ve spent these past weeks hunched over in purgatory. We are very glad that you\u2019ll finally be able to emerge from indoors. <\/p>\n

We, however, are already wistfully smelling every jamine flower we can find to inhale that one last heavenly note of perfume. Yes, it will emerge again next spring ….. but it\u2019s hard to say goodbye to something that has given so much pleasure. So jasmine \u2014 till next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keep up with LAist. If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,20027,2961,224,5337,20030,20028,20029],"class_list":{"0":"post-21759","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-jasmine","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-night-blooming-jasmine","15":"tag-scent","16":"tag-star-jasmine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}