Gardenia jasminoides

Family:RUBIACEAE
Species:Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
Common Name:Gardenia
Habitat:Rarely escaped or persistent after cultivation.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Shrub
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:This species is commonly grown as an ornamental. Most cultivars are sterile as the flower parts are doubled. Cape Jasmine or Gardenia is an introduced evergreen shrub in the Coffee family (Rubisaceae). It is native to parts of Asia including Vietnam, Southern China, Taiwan, Japan, Myanmar, and India. It is commonly cultivated and sometimes persists around old home sites or rubbish dumps. It is a multi-trunked shrub reaching heights of 6-12 feet. The older stems have dark gray bark that flakes in large squares. Young branches are pubescent and flattened. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, oblong to oblanceolate in outline, with entire margins. The leaves are thick and leathery and a dark green color. The upper surface of the leaf is shiny and glabrous, the lower side of the leaf is lighter green in color and pubescent or glabrous. Flowers are solitary and terminal. The corolla is white and doubled in cultivated forms. The flowers turn yellow as they age. Flowers are extremely fragrant. The fruit is an orange and yellow ellipsoid berry with longitudinal ridges and persistent calyx lobes. Double forms do not form seed. Cape Jasmine is a popular ornamental and is readily available in the nursery trade. Numerous forms are available including double and single flowered plants, dwarf plants, plants with variegated foliage, and forms that are more cold hardy. Plants prefer an acidic, well-draining soil with full to partial sun. Plants in northern areas require some cold protection, and small forms can be grown in containers and brought indoors for the winter. Plants should be pruned after flowering to promote dense growth and control plant height. Plants are subject to whitefly infestations. These insects secrete large amounts of a sugary waste called “honeydew” which is quickly colonized by a black sooty mold. They can be controlled by regular spraying of an insecticidal soap solution or a horticultural oil mix.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyRUBIACEAE - Madder/Coffee family
Genus Gardenia
Species Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis - Gardenia

Citation

Citation Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis, Philos. Trans. 51(2): 935, pl. 23. 1761.
Basionym: **
Type: AFRICA: near the Cape of Good Hope, found by Capt. Hutchinson, cultivated in London. lectotype: Rumphius, Herb. Amboin. 7: 26, t. 14, f. 2, "Catsjopiri" (1755) LT designated by Smith, Amer. J. Bot. 61: 113 (1974).

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

No synonyms exist for this species.

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Coosa, Mobile, St. Clair, Tuscaloosa, Washington

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: AUA, JSU, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: -

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
JSU132355 St. Clair 29 Jun 1969 Ellard, Jerry
16-123
JSU
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
USAM000013991 Baldwin 04 Sep 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11451
USAM
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
AUA_ACC_72997 Mobile 6 Jun 2014 Horne, Howard E.
2564
AUA
Gardenia Jasminoides Ellis
TROY000046331 Washington 07 Jun 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28349
TROY
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
UWAL0046751 Autauga 24 Jan 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
327
UWAL
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
UNA00043664 Tuscaloosa 17 Jun 1960 Walker, Henry
s.n.
UNA
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
UWAL0039687 Washington 07 Jun 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28349
UWAL
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
JSU132354 St. Clair 19 Jun 1969 Ellard, Jerry
18-123
JSU
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
UNA00043662 Tuscaloosa July, 1965 Walker, Henry
s.n.
UNA
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
UWAL0014648 Coosa 30 May 2013 Diamond, Alvin R.
24165
UWAL
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
UNA00043665 Tuscaloosa 17 Jun 1960 Walker, Henry
s.n.
UNA
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
TROY000044730 Autauga 24 Jan 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
327
TROY
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis
UNA00043666 Tuscaloosa 17 Jun 1960 Walker, Henry
s.n.
UNA
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
TROY000037776 Coosa 30 May 2013 Diamond, Alvin R.
24165
TROY
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
UNA00043661 Tuscaloosa 17 Jun 1960 Walker, Henry
s.n.
UNA
Gardenia jasminoides Ellis
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