A fast growing, twining climber. Branches ridged. Leaves of 1, 3 or 5 leaflets on the same plant, hairy below. Flowers pinkish mauve throughout, in few-flowered clusters; midsummer.

A garden hybrid, also said to occur in the wild in China. J. beesianum × J. officinale, intermediate in size and flower colour and in the sometimes incomplete division of the leaves.

 

The hybrid parent, J. beesianum Forr. & Diels, is occasionally supplied and differs in having simple leaves, red flowers and persistent shiny black berries.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Oleaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.