Species
+

Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult.

Adam's-apple, Ceylon-jessamine, Common Tabernaemontana, Crepe Jasmine

Climate known 49 photographs
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Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Tabernaemontana divaricata, commonly called pinwheel flower, crape jasmine, Ceylon jasmine, East India rosebay, and Nero's crown, is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. In zones where it is not hardy it is grown as a house/glasshouse plant for its attractive flowers and foliage. The stem exudes a milky latex when broken, whence comes the name milk flower.

Text from Wikipedia, “Tabernaemontana divaricata”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Tabernaemontana

Tabernaemontana is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It has a pan-tropical distribution, found in Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America, and islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. These plants are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to 1–15 m tall. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Tabernaemontana”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Apocynaceae
Described by
(L.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult.
Native to
China South-Central, Assam, Bangladesh +9
Wild records
636 in range· 425 open

At a glance

Warmest month
33°C
Apr, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1709mm/yr
9 wet months · peak Jul 356 mm (CHELSA)
Light
27–41DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1709 mm a year, wettest July at 356 mm, driest December at 14 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 41 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 11.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Ervatamia coronaria (Jacq.) Stapf; Ervatamia divaricata (L.) Burkill; Ervatamia divaricata var. plena (Roxb. ex Voigt) M.R.Almeida; Ervatamia flabelliformis Tsiang; Ervatamia recurva (Roxb.) Lace and 27 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1358 mm of 1709 mm) falls in June to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.0 °C against a yearly mean of 26.0 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1709 mm a year, wettest July at 356 mm, driest December at 14 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1709 mm a year at the habitat, 1358 mm of it June to October. Wettest month July at 356 mm, driest December at 14 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 896 mm to 3192 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 41 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 41 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 23, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 11.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 11.7 °C, the absolute minimum 7.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 43.4 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 16.1 °C in January (across the envelope cells 8.4 °C to 23.4 °C), warmest day 32.6 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 11.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 27 °C in Dec to 33 °C in Apr; mean night from 16 °C in Jan to 25 °C in May. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1709 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 486 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 7.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 43.4 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°50°43.4° 99th-percentile day (undated)7.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter02004006008001000mm rainDLI 27–41RH 56–68 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 486 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 20–3130 / 22–3332 / 27–3533 / 29–3732 / 29–3930 / 28–3629 / 27–3329 / 27–3229 / 27–3229 / 27–3128 / 25–3027 / 21–30
Night °C16 / 8–2318 / 11–2421 / 15–2524 / 20–2625 / 22–2725 / 23–2725 / 22–2624 / 22–2624 / 21–2522 / 19–2519 / 14–2416 / 10–23
Rain mm15 / 2–3121 / 1–4132 / 4–7965 / 6–171158 / 23–291268 / 71–724356 / 127–854312 / 131–575259 / 129–355163 / 36–35246 / 8–22314 / 5–59
DLI32 / 23–3737 / 28–4041 / 35–4341 / 36–4637 / 31–4631 / 25–3827 / 24–3328 / 24–3330 / 26–3431 / 28–3330 / 25–3230 / 23–34
RH %57 / 51–6156 / 48–6256 / 46–6360 / 42–6563 / 44–6766 / 53–7168 / 61–7268 / 62–7167 / 61–6963 / 53–6959 / 51–6757 / 51–63

Each figure is the median across the 486 grid cells holding the 631 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1384:5070 (20.775, 73.525). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 7.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 11.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 43.4 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 486 distinct grid cells holding the 631 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1384:5070 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 21.00_73.750, lapse-corrected -97 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 224 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, West Himalaya, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam· introduced: Gulf of Guinea Is., Gulf States, Hainan, China Southeast, Taiwan, Malaya, Cook Is., Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Florida, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker10.052, 76.387 · in the densest population, 156 records (25% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 636 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 425 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 38 km away. 511 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 5 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 636 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Tabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricataTabernaemontana divaricata

Photographs: (c) 謝麗霦, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Rohit, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (3); (c) Yves Bas, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Greg III Espera, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Sabarni Sarker, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Stephanie Tran, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Tabernaemontana divaricata, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Eco-friendly preparation of zinc oxide nanoparticles using Tabernaemontana divaricata and its photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity
A. Raja, S. Ashokkumar, R. Pavithra Marthandam, J. Jayachandiran (2018) · Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B Biology
Indole alkaloids from cell suspension cultures of Tabernaemontana divaricata and Tabernanthe iboga
Karl‐Heinz Pawelka, Joachim St�ckigt (1983) · Plant Cell Reports
Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and biotechnological advances of family Apocynaceae: A review
Bhushan S. Bhadane, Mohini P. Patil, Vijay L. Maheshwari, Ravindra H. Patil (2018) · Phytotherapy Research
Tabernaemontana divaricata extract inhibits neuronal acetylcholinesterase activity in rats
Siriporn Chattipakorn, Anucha Pongpanparadorn, Wasana Pratchayasakul, Anchalee Pongchaidacha (2006) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Cytotoxic Indole Alkaloids from Tabernaemontana divaricata
Mei‐Fen Bao, Juming Yan, Guiguang Cheng, Xing-Yao Li (2013) · Journal of Natural Products
Biologically Active Ibogan and Vallesamine Derivatives from Tabernaemontana divaricata
Toh‐Seok Kam, Huey‐Shen Pang, Yeun‐Mun Choo, Kanki Komiyama (2004) · Chemistry & Biodiversity
Surface protection of steel in acid medium by Tabernaemontana divaricata extract: Physicochemical evidence for adsorption of inhibitor
Kavitha Rose, Byoung‐Suhk Kim, K. Rajagopal, Sankar Arumugam (2015) · Journal of Molecular Liquids
Conophylline and Conophyllidine: New Dimeric Alkaloids from Tabernaemontana divaricata
Toh‐Seok Kam, Kah-Yeng Loh, Wei Chen (1993) · Journal of Natural Products
Vobasinyl-iboga bisindole alkaloids, potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from Tabernaemontana divaricata root
Kornkanok Ingkaninan, Kanokwan Changwijit, Khanit Suwanborirux (2006) · Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
Biologically active indole and bisindole alkaloids from Tabernaemontana divaricata
Toh‐Seok Kam, Huey‐Shen Pang, Tuck‐Meng Lim (2003) · Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry
Ethnobotany & ethnopharmacology of Tabernaemontana divaricata.
Wasana Pratchayasakul, Anchalee Pongchaidecha, Nipon Chattipakorn, Siriporn C. Chattipakorn (2008) · PubMed

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Tabernaemontana 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 101 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.