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Gardenia thunbergia

White Gardenia

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Image:	Flowers, leaves and bud	40KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: White Gardenia, Forest Gardenia, Wild Gardenia

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tiare Esther? (RR)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.S.Africa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; S.Group (Rarotonga only, rare); Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: A shrub or small tree to 5m. LEAVES whorls of 3; wide-oval, to 16x8cm, tapering to base and tip; glossy dark green; glands along the midrib; edge wavy; stalk short, ~1cm. FLOWER large 13cmØ, white, fragrant; calyx green to 7x1cm(LxØ), split 50%, lobes ~8, linear to spoon-like; corolla tube 100x8mm(LxØ); petals ~9, 6x3cm, overlapping, white; style protruding, yellow, spiral ridges. FRUIT not seen.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Gardenia thunbergia L.f.
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Rubiales; RUBIACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Pollinated by hawkmoths. On Rarotonga seen to be visited at dusk by Convolvulus Hawkmoth [GMcC]. Flowers October - December.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, Esther Katu garden Arorangi, 11/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Gardenia thunbergia.

References:
p.800 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.495 Hortus 3rd
p.492 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.867 Tropica

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB04b, zM04b, zD04b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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