- An ornamental garden-worthy climber, jasmine grows wild from the Caucasus to China. It is grown worldwide for its exquisite scent as is the royal or Spanish Jasminum grandiflrum . The Arabian Jasminum sambac is the variety used for flavoring jasmine tea. - History - The name Jasminum comes from the Latin rendition of the Persian yasmin . It was known to the Assyrian kings and was recorded as growing in the Islamic desert gardens of the eleventh century. It came to Europe in the sixteenth century