Gardenia

Evergreen shrub, rounded habit, dense branches. Bark greyish. Leaves dark green, shiny, leathery, with prominent veins, opposite. Flowers white, up to 10 cm in diameter, matte texture in contrast to the glossy leaves, among the most strongly fragrant of all flowers.

Native to India, Southern China and Southeast Asia. With its shiny leaves and heavily fragrant white flowers, it is widely used in gardens in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical climates, and as a houseplant in temperate regions.

The fruits are used against jaundice and diseases of the kidneys and lungs.

Related (same family) to coffee (Coffea arabica, # 6).