Description

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, night jasmine or coral jasmine, is a small, deciduous shrub or tree of the family Oleaceae, native to tropical and subtropical South Asia and Southeast Asia, distributed from the Himalayan foothills through peninsular India to Thailand. The state flower of Odisha, it is widely cultivated for its intensely fragrant white flowers with an orange-red corolla tube, which open at dusk and fall at dawn. Known in Ayurveda as Shephalika, the flowers, leaves, and bark are cited in the Charaka Samhita and Bhavaprakasha Nighantu for preparations traditionally associated with malarial fever, arthritis, and cutaneous conditions. The orange-red corolla tubes have also been traditionally used as a source of natural dye in South Asian textile traditions, yielding a saffron-tinted colour.