Gardenia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Rubiaceae family, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar and the Pacific Islands. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus and John Ellis after Dr. Alexander Garden (1730-1791), a Scottish-born American naturalist. Gardenias are evergreen shrubs and small trees that grow up to 1-15 meters tall. The leaves are opposite or in coils of three or four, 5-50 inches long and 3-25 inches wide, dark green and glossy with a fine texture. The flowers are solitary or in small clusters, white or pale yellow, with a tubular corolla of 5-12 lobes (petals) 5-12 cm in diameter. Flowering is from mid-spring to mid-summer, and many species are strongly scented.