Cape Jasmine (Gardenia jasminoides)

Gardenia jasminoides, commonly called gardenia or cape jasmine, is an evergreen flowering shrub of the coffee family Rubiaceae, native to the subtropical and tropical regions of East and Southeast Asia, growing in the wild from thirty centimeters to three meters tall. It is prized for its shiny, dark green foliage and intensely fragrant white flowers, among the most strongly scented of any flower, which bloom in summer and autumn and gradually take on a creamy yellow, waxy appearance as they age. The plant has been cultivated for more than a thousand years, documented in China as early as the Song dynasty between 960 and 1279 AD, before reaching England by the mid-eighteenth century and America by 1762, and it remains a favored subtropical garden plant as well as a houseplant or greenhouse specimen in temperate climates. It holds particular importance in Buddhist temple offerings across tropical Asia, its fruit is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and it yields a yellow-red dye once used to color textiles and confections.