Sampaguita (Jasminum sambac) is a sweetly scented tropical flower.
Belonging to the wide genus of Jasmines (Jasminum), Sampaguita is the common name of the species Jasminum sambac. Sampaguita is also known as Philippine Jasmine, Arabian jasmine, Pikake in Hawaii, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Kampupot, and Melati . The species Jasminum sambac is native to southern Asia, in India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Sampaguita is serving as the National Flower of for two countries – Philippines and Indonesia.. The beautiful ornamental Sampaguita blooms cover the glossy green leafed bushed type ever bloomer. The Sampaguita is also well known in Asia for its use in teas and religious offerings, symbolizing divine hope.
Sampaguita grow on a woody vine or semi-climbing shrub, which reaches a height of 1,2 meters. The leaves are ovate or rounded in shape and 6 to 12 cm long. The leaves and Sampaguita flowers grow on short stalks. The Sampaguita flowers bloom either singly or as bundles of blossoms at the top of the branches. Blooming all through the year, Sampaguita are pure white, small, dainty, star-shaped blossoms. The flowers open at night and wilt in less than a day. The Sampaguita flower has about 8-10 calyx teeth that are very slender, and 5 to 8 mm long. The Sampaguita’s corolla tube is slender and 1 to 1.5 cm long, the limb is usually double and 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter. The 2 stamens on the Sampaguita are included with a 2-celled ovary.
Shane Jones – student
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”