What's hanging on my Tuscan jasmine?

Tuscan jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides; also known as star jasmine) is a beautiful evergreen climbing plant with lovely white star-shaped flowers that have a wonderful fragrance. Flowering begins in the summer and can continue for a long time. At some point, seed pods may form. We are often asked what these pods are:

Does Tuscan jasmine produce fruit or seeds?

It looks like there are beans hanging from the Tuscan jasmine. What is this, and is it harmful?

Don't worry, this is normal. After flowering, fruits may form in long seed pods. This occurs mainly during warmer summers or in a warm, sheltered spot.

Although the color of the seed pods isn’t very striking at first, their slender, elongated shape is easily recognizable. Often, if you take a closer look at your jasmine, you’ll see many more pods hanging there. The seed pods are about 20 cm long. Later, the pods turn reddish-brown.

Are the fruits of the Tuscan jasmine edible?

The fruits and seed pods of Tuscan jasmine, also known as star jasmine, are not edible. Please note: jasmine is (mildly) toxic. So you should not eat them! If you have small children or pets, you might want to remove them as a precaution.

Do jasmine seeds ripen?

The seeds will only ripen sufficiently during long, warm summers. In the fall, you can harvest the seeds of Tuscan jasmine. They must be sufficiently ripe and dry for this. Remove the seeds from the pods, clean them, and let them dry further. Then store them until spring to sow them.

Do you need to remove the pods?

Since the chances of the seeds ripening aren’t very high, you might want to consider removing the seed pods (or part of them). This prevents the jasmine from wasting a lot of energy on ripening the seeds, especially since summer is often just too short for that. This, in turn, allows more energy to go toward the growth and flowering of your jasmine.

Since Tuscan jasmine (star jasmine) is poisonous, you should remove the seed pods promptly to prevent small children or pets from eating them.

You can also leave the seed pods on the plant, especially if the jasmine is already quite large. The plant will grow less, but the seed pods do add to its ornamental value.