Gardenia thunbergia.JPG

''Gardenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar and Pacific Islands, and Australia.

The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus and John Ellis after Alexander Garden (1730–1791), a Scottish-born American naturalist.

Description

Gardenias are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to tall. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three or four, long and broad, dark green and glossy with a leathery texture.

The flowers are solitary or in small clusters, white, or pale yellow, with a tubular-based corolla (botany) with 5–12 lobes ( petals) from diameter. Flowering is from about mid-spring to mid-summer, and many species are strongly scented.

Phytochemistry

Many of the native gardenias of the Pacific Islands and elsewhere in the paleotropics possess a diverse array of natural products. Methoxylated and oxygenated flavonols, flavones, and triterpenes accumulate on the vegetative- and floral-buds as yellow to brown droplets of secreted resin. Many focused phytochemical studies of these bud exudates have been published, including a population-level study of two rare, sympatric species of the Fiji Islands, ''G. candida'' and ''G. grievei''.
The evolutionary significance of the gums and resins of gardenias in attracting or repelling invertebrate herbivores, has yet to be explored by ecologists.

Systematics

'' Plants of the World Online'' recognises 128 species in this genus, as follows:

* ''Gardenia actinocarpa''
* ''Gardenia anapetes''
* ''Gardenia angkorensis''
* ''Gardenia annamensis''
* ''Gardenia aqualla''
* ''Gardenia archboldiana''
* ''Gardenia aubryi''
* '' Gardenia barnesii''
* '' Gardenia beamanii''
* '' Gardenia boninensis''
* '' Gardenia brachythamnus''
* '' Gardenia brevicalyx''
* '' Gardenia brighamii''
* '' Gardenia buffalina''
* '' Gardenia cambodiana''
* '' Gardenia candida''
* '' Gardenia carinata''
* '' Gardenia carstensensis''
* ''Gardenia chanii''
* '' Gardenia chevalieri''
* '' Gardenia clemensiae''
* '' Gardenia collinsiae''
* '' Gardenia cornuta''
* '' Gardenia coronaria''
* '' Gardenia costulata''
* '' Gardenia crameri''
* '' Gardenia cuneata''
* ''Gardenia dacryoides''
* '' Gardenia elata''
* '' Gardenia epiphytica''
* '' Gardenia erubescens''
* '' Gardenia esculenta''
* ''Gardenia ewartii''
* '' Gardenia faucicola''
* ''Gardenia fiorii''
* '' Gardenia flava''
* '' Gardenia fosbergii''
* '' Gardenia fucata''
* '' Gardenia fusca''
* ''Gardenia gardneri''
* '' Gardenia gjellerupii''
* '' Gardenia gordonii''
* '' Gardenia grievei''
* '' Gardenia griffithii''
* '' Gardenia gummifera''
* '' Gardenia hageniana''
* '' Gardenia hainanensis''
* '' Gardenia hansemannii''
* ''Gardenia hillii''
* '' Gardenia hutchinsoniana''
* '' Gardenia imperialis''
* '' Gardenia invaginata''
* '' Gardenia ixorifolia''
* '' Gardenia jabiluka''
* '' Gardenia jasminoides''
* '' Gardenia kabaenensis''
* '' Gardenia kakaduensis''
* '' Gardenia kamialiensis''
* '' Gardenia lacciflua''
* ''Gardenia lamingtonii''
* '' Gardenia lanutoo''
* '' Gardenia latifolia''
* '' Gardenia leopoldiana''
* ''Gardenia leschenaultii''
* '' Gardenia longistipula''
* '' Gardenia magnifica''
* ''Gardenia mannii''
* '' Gardenia manongarivensis''
* ''Gardenia maugaloae''
* ''Gardenia megasperma''
* '' Gardenia moszkowskii''
* '' Gardenia mutabilis''
* '' Gardenia nitida''
* '' Gardenia obtusifolia''
* '' Gardenia ornata''
* '' Gardenia oudiepe''
* '' Gardenia ovularis''
* '' Gardenia pallens''
* '' Gardenia panduriformis''
* ''Gardenia papuana''
* '' Gardenia philastrei''
* '' Gardenia posoquerioides''
* '' Gardenia propinqua''
* ''Gardenia psidioides''
* '' Gardenia pterocalyx''
* '' Gardenia pyriformis''
* '' Gardenia racemulosa''
* '' Gardenia reflexisepala''
* '' Gardenia reinwardtiana''
* ''Gardenia remyi''
* '' Gardenia resinifera''
* ''Gardenia resiniflua''
* ''Gardenia resinosa''
* '' Gardenia rupicola''
* '' Gardenia rutenbergiana''
* '' Gardenia sambiranensis''
* '' Gardenia saxatilis''
* '' Gardenia scabrella''
* '' Gardenia schlechteri''
* '' Gardenia schwarzii''
* ''Gardenia sericea''
* ''Gardenia similis''
* ''Gardenia siphonocalyx''
* '' Gardenia sokotensis''
* '' Gardenia sootepensis''
* '' Gardenia stenophylla''
* '' Gardenia storckii''
* ''Gardenia subacaulis''
* '' Gardenia subcarinata''
* ''Gardenia taitensis''
* ''Gardenia tannaensis''
* '' Gardenia ternifolia''
* '' Gardenia tessellaris''
* '' Gardenia thailandica''
* '' Gardenia thunbergia''
* '' Gardenia tinneae''
* '' Gardenia transvenulosa''
* '' Gardenia trochainii''
* '' Gardenia tropidocarpa''
* '' Gardenia truncata''
* '' Gardenia tubifera''
* '' Gardenia urvillei''
* '' Gardenia vernicosa''
* '' Gardenia vilhelmii''
* ''Gardenia vitiensis''
* '' Gardenia vogelii''
* '' Gardenia volkensii''
* '' Gardenia vulcanica''

Cultivation and uses

Gardenia plants are prized for the strong sweet scent of their flowers, which can be very large in size in some species.

''Gardenia jasminoides'' (syn. ''G. grandiflora'', ''G. Florida'') is cultivated as a house plant. This species can be difficult to grow because it originated in warm humid tropical areas. It demands high humidity to thrive, and bright (not direct) light. It flourishes in acidic soils with good drainage and thrives on 0-23 C temperatures (68-74 F)during the day and 15-16 C (60 F) in the evening. Potting soils developed especially for gardenias are available. ''G. jasminoides'' grows no larger than 18 inches in height and width when grown indoors. In climates where it can be grown outdoors, it can attain a height of 6 feet. If water touches the flowers, they will turn brown.

In Eastern Asia, ''Gardenia jasminoides'' is called ( 栀子) in China, (치자) in Korea, and ( 梔) in Japan. Its fruit is used as a yellow dye, used on fabric and food (including the Korean mung bean jelly called ''hwangpomuk''). Its fruits are also used in traditional Chinese medicine for their clearing, calming, and cooling properties.

In France, gardenias are the flower traditionally worn by men as boutonnière when in evening dress. In ''The Age of Innocence'', Edith Wharton suggests it was customary for upper-class men from New York City to wear a gardenia in their buttonhole during the Gilded Age.

Sigmund Freud remarked to the poet H.D. that gardenias were his favorite flower.

In Tiki culture, "Donn Beach", aka Don the Beachcomber, frequently wore a fresh lei of gardenias almost every day at his Tiki bars, allegedly spending $7,800 for flowers over the course of four years in 1938. He named one of his drinks the ''Mystery Gardenia'' cocktail. Trader Vic frequently used the gardenia as a flower garnish in his Tiki drinks, such as in the Scorpion and ''Outrigger Tiara'' cocktails.

Several species occur in Hawaii, where gardenias are known as ''nau'' or ''nānū''.

Crocetin is a chemical compound usually obtained from ''Crocus sativus'', which can also be obtained from the fruit of ''Gardenia jasminoides''. Gordonin is a novel methoxylated flavonol secreted in golden-colored resinous droplets of ''Gardenia gordonii'', which is one of several critically endangered species of the Fiji Islands. Phytochemical studies of these resin droplets have been published, including a population-level study of two other rare, sympatric species on Vanua Levu Island of the Fiji Archipelago, ''G. candida'' and ''G. grievei''.Miller, J. M. and S. Sotheeswaran. 1993. Bud exudate composition and ecogeography of Fijian Gardenia species (Rubiaceae). Biotropica 25(1): 117-122

Hattie McDaniel famously wore gardenias in her hair when she accepted an Academy Award, the first for an African American, for ''Gone with the Wind''. Mo'Nique Hicks later wore gardenias in her hair when she won her Oscar as a tribute to McDaniel.

Gallery

Image:Starr_030523-0050_Gardenia_brighamii.jpg, ''Gardenia brighamii''
Image:White Gardenia flower.jpg, ''Gardenia jasminoides'' 'Plena'
Image:Gardenia_Flower.jpg, ''Gardenia jasminoides''l 'Radicans'
Image:Gardenia psidioides flower.jpg, ''Gardenia psidioides''
Image:Tiare_maori.JPG, ''Gardenia taitensis''
Image:Gardenia thunbergia00.jpg,
Image:Gardeniavolkensii-flowerface.JPG, ''Gardenia volkensii'' flower
Image:Gardeniavolkensii-flowers&foliage&fruit.JPG, ''Gardenia volkensii'' flowers, foliage, fruit
Image:Blooming stages of gardenia flower 01.jpg, Blooming stages of gardenia flower (1 of 6)
Image:Blooming stages of gardenia flower 02.jpg, Blooming stages of gardenia flower (2 of 6)
Image:Blooming stages of gardenia flower 03.jpg, Blooming stages of gardenia flower (3 of 6)
Image:Blooming stages of gardenia flower 04.jpg, Blooming stages of gardenia flower (4 of 6)
Image:Blooming stages of gardenia flower 05.jpg, Blooming stages of gardenia flower (5 of 6)
Image:Blooming stages of gardenia flower 06.jpg, Blooming stages of gardenia flower (6 of 6)

References

External links

World Checklist of Rubiaceae

{{Taxonbar, from=Q740887

Rubiaceae genera