GARDENIA  , in

botany, a genus of the natural order Rubiaceae, containing about sixty species of evergreen trees and shrubs, natives of the warmer parts of the old world . Several are grown in stoves or greenhouses for their handsome, sweet-scented white flowers . Thh flowers are developed singly at the end of a branch or in the leaf-axils, and are funnel- or salver-shaped with a long tube . The double forms of Gardenia florida (a native of China) and G. radicans (a native of Japan) are amongst the most beautiful and highly perfumed of any in cultivation . Gardenias are grown chiefly for cut flowers, and are readily propagated by cuttings . They require plenty of heat and moisture in the growing season, and must be kept free from insects such as the mealy bug, green fly, red spider and scale-insect .