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Gardenia

Genus of flowering plants in the coffee family

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  • 4 chapters
Gardenia flower from the gardens at Monticello
Queerbubbles · CC BY-SA 3.0

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The Gardenia genus was named by Carl Linnaeus (though the name was first proposed to him in 1753 by Jane Colden, who often goes uncredited ) and John Ellis. The genus was named after Alexander Garden (1730–1791), a Scottish naturalist. The type species is Gardenia jasminoides, as first published by Ellis in 1761.

Description

Gardenia species typically grow as shrubs or small trees, however some species, such as those native to New Guinea, may grow to 20–30 m (66–98 ft) tall. A small number of species found in tropical East Africa and southern Africa grow as small pyrophytic subshrubs. At least one species, Gardenia epiphytica, native to Gabon and Cameroon, grows as an epiphyte. Most species are unarmed and spineless, but some species such as some of those found in Africa are spinescent.

The leaf arrangement is typically opposite or verticillate may (arranged in whorls). Leaves vary by species; many species are glossy with a distinctly coriaceous (or leathery) texture such as that seen in Gardenia jasminoides, whilst in others, leaves may be thin and chartaceous (or paper-like).

The flowers, particularly in the species most commonly grown in gardens, may be large and showy and white, cream or pale yellow in color, with a pleasant and strong, sometimes overpowering scent that may be more noticeable at night, something quite typical of moth-pollinated plants.

Gardenia flowers are hermaphrodite (or bisexual) with each individual flower having both male and female structures (that is, having both stamens and carpels). The arrangement of the flowers on the plant are solitary or in small terminal clusters or fascicles. The flowers vary across species, but most commonly have a funnel- or cylindrical-shaped corolla tube, normally elongated and narrow distally, surrounded by 5–12 or more lobes (petals) contorted or arranged in an overlapping pattern.

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