Hi Kathleen

Ah, the joys of botanical illustration. I tend to read around a species first, to be sure I know what I’m looking for, and then draw. The jasmine was done rather swiftly, and I didn’t look up the botany before drawing from life. I’m perfectly capable of having messed up the drawing, and totally agree that it’s odd. however, looking through images on the internet and another (conveniently blooming) sprig from the same plant, it really does look like it has 5 and 6 petalled blooms. Which is totally wierd. I did a bit of a search, and it seems that it can indeed be 5 or 6 petals fused into the long corolla tube (phew)! https://homeguides.sfgate.com/flower-difference-between-forsythia-winter-jasmine-77618.html

I guess I’d say always look really closely at your specimen, and I shouldnt rush things. But believing your own ideas as well as wikipedia is proably the best option.

Cheers for taking the time to comment, and to look into it! Interesting, eh?

Yorus
Lizzie