Gardenia
Encyclopedia
Gardenia is a genus
of 142 species of flowering plant
s in the coffee
family, Rubiaceae
, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa
, southern Asia
, Australasia
and Oceania
.
The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after Dr. Alexander Garden
(1730-1791), a Scottish
-born American
naturalist.
They are evergreen
shrub
s and small tree
s growing to 1–15 m (3.3–49.2 ft) tall. The leaves
are opposite or in whorls of three or four, 5–50 cm (2–19.7 in) long and 3–25 cm (1.2–9.8 in) broad, dark green and glossy with a leathery texture. The flower
s are solitary or in small clusters, white, or pale yellow, with a tubular-based corolla with 5-12 lobes (petal
s) from 5–12 cm (2–4.7 in) diameter. Flowering is from about mid-spring to mid-summer and many species are strongly scented.
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 [68-74 F temperatures (20-23 C)]http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/gardenia.html during the day and 60 F (15-16 C) 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 China and Japan, Gardenia jasminoides is called Zhi zi (Chinese 栀子) and Kuchinashi (Japanese 梔); the bloom is used as a yellow dye
, which is used for clothes 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
, decades ago, Gardenia was the traditional flower which men wore sometimes as boutonnière
s on special occasions.
It is the national flower of Pakistan.
Jazz singer Billie Holiday
was known to wear gardenias in her hair, one of her most noticeable features. She called them her trademark.
Several species occur on Hawaii
, where gardenias are known as nau or nānū.
Crocetin
is a chemical compound found in gardenia fruit (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis). In high concentrations, it has protective effects against retinal damage in vitro
and in vivo
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of 142 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the coffee
Coffea
Coffea is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Seeds of several species are the source of the popular beverage coffee. Coffee ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded...
family, Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...
, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Australasia
Australasia ecozone
The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geographic region of Australasia...
and Oceania
Oceania ecozone
Oceania is one of the WWF ecozones, and unique in not including any continental land mass. The ecozone includes the Pacific Ocean islands of Micronesia, the Fijian Islands, and most of Polynesia...
.
The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after Dr. Alexander Garden
Alexander Garden (naturalist)
Dr Alexander Garden is most famous as a botanist whose name lives on in the gardenia flower, though he was also a physician and zoologist...
(1730-1791), a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born American
Scottish American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage...
naturalist.
They are evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s and small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s growing to 1–15 m (3.3–49.2 ft) tall. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite or in whorls of three or four, 5–50 cm (2–19.7 in) long and 3–25 cm (1.2–9.8 in) broad, dark green and glossy with a leathery texture. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are solitary or in small clusters, white, or pale yellow, with a tubular-based corolla with 5-12 lobes (petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s) from 5–12 cm (2–4.7 in) diameter. Flowering is from about mid-spring to mid-summer and many species are strongly scented.
Selected species
- Gardenia anapetesGardenia anapetesGardenia anapetes is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is endemic to the Fiji island of Vanua Levu.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 21 August 2007....
Smith - Gardenia brighamiiGardenia brighamiiGardenia brighamii, commonly known as Nānū, Nau, or Forest Gardenia, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii.-Description:...
H.MannHorace Mann Jr.-Biography:Horace Mann Jr. was born in Boston on February 25, 1844. He was the son of education reformer Horace Mann. While attending the Lawrence Scientific School he took lessons in zoology with Louis Agassiz and in botany with Asa Gray...
- Nānū (HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
) - Gardenia buffalina (Lour.) Poir. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck (= Genipa buffalina)
- Gardenia carinata IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, MalayaMalay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
. - Gardenia cornuta (Natal Gardenia). South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. - Gardenia flava (Lour.) Poir. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck (= Genipa flava)
- Gardenia fortunei Eastern Asia.
- Gardenia gummiferaGardenia gummiferaGardenia gummifera is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is endemic to India.-References:* CAMP Workshops on Medicinal Plants, India 1998. . Downloaded on 21 August 2007....
India. Small tree, to 3 m high. - Gardenia imperialis Tropical Africa. Small tree to 12 m.
- Gardenia jasminoidesGardenia jasminoidesGardenia jasminoides, is a fragrant flowering evergreen tropical plant, a favorite in gardens worldwide. It originated in Asia and is most commonly found growing in Vietnam, Southern China, Taiwan, Japan and India...
(Common Gardenia, Cape Jasmine or Cape Jessamine). Southern China and Japan. - Gardenia latifoliaGardenia latifoliaGardenia latifolia, Ait., also called Papra or Hindi:पापडा, is medium-sized to large, long-lived tree of family Rubiaceae. It is found in the forests of Madhya Pradesh in India, and has been widely cultivated elsewhere, to the point of naturalization, especially in Nigeria, West Africa where the...
India. Shrub or tree, 5-10 m high. - Gardenia manniiGardenia manniiNānū or Mann's Gardenia is a species of flowering tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is endemic to the island of Oahu in Hawaii. It inhabits coastal mesic, mixed mesic, and wet forests at elevations of in the Koolau and Waianae Ranges...
H.St.JohnHarold St. JohnHarold St. John was a professor of botany at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa from 1929 to 1958. A prolific specialist in field botany and systematics, he is credited with discovering about 500 new species of Pandanus, along with many other species, especially in the Pacific Islands.Born in...
& Kuykend. (Hawaii) - Gardenia remyiGardenia remyiNānū or Remy's Gardenia is a species of flowering tree in the madder family, Rubiaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It inhabits coastal mesic, mixed mesic, and wet forests at elevations of on Kauai, Molokai, Maui, and the Big Island. It is threatened by habitat loss....
H.MannHorace Mann Jr.-Biography:Horace Mann Jr. was born in Boston on February 25, 1844. He was the son of education reformer Horace Mann. While attending the Lawrence Scientific School he took lessons in zoology with Louis Agassiz and in botany with Asa Gray...
(Hawaii) - Gardenia resinifera Roth (Brilliant Gardenia, Cambi Resin Tree, or dikamali) IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Shrub or small tree, to 3 m high. (= G. lucida, Genipa resinifera) - Gardenia resiniflua (Gummy Gardenia). South Africa.
- Gardenia rutenbergiana (Baill. ex Vatke) J.-F.Leroy (= Genipa rutenbergiana)
- Gardenia scabrellaGardenia scabrellaGardenia scabrella is a flowering evergreen tropical plant found in north Queensland. It is used as in street and amenities planting in Cairns....
far north Queensland- used in amenities plantings in Cairns - Gardenia spatulifolia South Africa.
- Gardenia taitensisGardenia taitensisGardenia taitensis is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is an evergreen tropical shrub that grows to 4 m tall, it has glossy dark green leaves that are oppositely arranged along the stem. The flower is creamy white, pinwheel-shaped with 5 to 9 lobes and very fragrant...
(Tahitian Gardenia, Tiare māori). PolynesiaPolynesiaPolynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
. - Gardenia ternifolia (Large-leaved Transvaal Gardenia). South Africa.
- Gardenia ternifolia ssp. jovis-tonantis (Welw.) Verdc. (= G. jovis-tonantis, Genipa jovis-tonantis)
- Gardenia thunbergiaGardenia thunbergiaGardenia thunbergia is a shrub or small tree found in forest or on forest margins, occurring in the Eastern Cape, Natal and Transkei in South Africa. Densely twiggy and rigid with smooth light-grey bark. The leaves are smooth, shiny, whorled and entire, and clustered at the ends of branchlets...
(White Gardenia, Forest Gardenia, or witkatjiepiering) South Africa. Shrub or small tree, 2-5 m high. - Gardenia tubifera (Golden Gardenia). Southeastern Asia. Small tree to 15 m high.
- Gardenia turgida India. Shrub or small tree to 4 m high, with spines.
- Gardenia volkensii (Transvaal Gardenia or Savanna Gardenia). Tropical Africa.
Cultivation and uses
Gardenia plants are prized for the strong sweet scent of their flowers, which can be very large 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
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
to thrive and bright (not direct) light. It flourishes in acidic soils with good drainage and thrives on [68-74 F temperatures (20-23 C)]http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/gardenia.html during the day and 60 F (15-16 C) 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 China and Japan, Gardenia jasminoides is called Zhi zi (Chinese 栀子) and Kuchinashi (Japanese 梔); the bloom is used as a yellow dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
, which is used for clothes and food (including the Korean mung bean
Mung bean
The mung bean is the seed of Vigna radiata. It is native to the Indian subcontinent.-Description:They are small, ovoid in shape, and green in color...
jelly called hwangpomuk
Hwangpomuk
Hwangpomuk is a Korean food which is a yellow jelly made from mung beans. The yellow color comes from dyeing with the fruit of gardenia...
). Its fruits are also used in traditional Chinese medicine for their clearing, calming, and cooling properties.
In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, decades ago, Gardenia was the traditional flower which men wore sometimes as boutonnière
Boutonniere
A boutonnière is a floral decoration worn by men, typically a single flower or bud. The word comes from the French word for buttonhole, which is the British term....
s on special occasions.
It is the national flower of Pakistan.
Jazz singer Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
was known to wear gardenias in her hair, one of her most noticeable features. She called them her trademark.
Several species occur on Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, where gardenias are known as nau or nānū.
Crocetin
Crocetin
Crocetin is a natural carotenoid dicarboxylic acid that is found in the crocus flower and Gardenia jasminoides . It forms brick red crystals with a melting point of 285 °C....
is a chemical compound found in gardenia fruit (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis). In high concentrations, it has protective effects against retinal damage in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...
and in vivo
In vivo
In vivo is experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...
.