Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
Family
Rubiaceae
Synonyms
Gardenia augusta (L.) Merr., Gardenia florida L., Gardenia grandiflora Lour.
Vernacular Names
|
Malaysia |
Bunga cina, bunga susu, sangklapa. |
|
English |
Cape jasmine, garden gardenia. |
|
Indonesia |
Kaca piring (Sundanese), ceplok piring (Javanese), jempiring (Bali). |
|
Philippines |
Rosal (Tagalog). |
|
Laos |
Inthavaa, ph’ud. |
|
Thailand |
Khet-thawaa (Northern), phut cheen (Central), phut-tharaksaa (Ratchaburi). |
|
Vietnam |
Danh danh. |
Geographical Distributions
Gardenia jasminoides is indigenous in southern China, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, and Taiwan, possibly also locally in Sri Lanka. It is widely cultivated in the tropics and subtropics, and sometimes naturalised. In Southeast Asia, it is commonly planted in gardens.
Description
Gardenia jasminoides is usually an evergreen, erect shrub, up to 2 m tall, but some small trees that reach up to 12 m tall have been recorded. The roots are strong.
The stem is up to 10 cm in diametre and usually much branched.
The leaves are arranged opposite, elliptic to oblong-ovate, measuring 5-10(-15) cm x 2-4.5(-7) cm, with wedge-shaped base, acute or acuminate at apex, with short leaf stalk and with stipules that connate in pairs.
The flowers are large, solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, (sub)sessile and very fragrant. The sepal is 5-8-lobed, with persistent white petal but later turns yellowish, its tube is about 3 cm long while there are 5-8 spreading lobes. The anthers are as many as petal lobes, linear and sessile. The ovary is inferior, with long style and headed stigmas.
The fruit is a leathery, ovoid or ellipsoid berry, measure 1.5-3( -4.5) cm long, 5-ribbed, crowned with a persistent sepal, yellow to red at maturity and containing many seeds.
Ecology / Cultivation
Gardenia jasminoides is originally a species from temperate climates. In tropical areas, it grows well at altitudes of 400-1200 m. In the tropical lowlands, it flowers poorly or not at all. It thrives best on properly drained, but not too dry soils with pH 6-7, and it prefers sunny places.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.3: Dye and Tannin-Producing Plants.
