Botanical name: Gardenia gummifera    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Gardenia arborea, Gardenia inermis

Gummy gardenia is a small tree which grows up to 3 meters. Gardenia is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants. They are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to 1-15 m tall. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three or four, 5-50 cm long and 3-25 cm broad, dark green and glossy with a leathery texture. Leaf blade is 4-8 x 1.5-4 cm, ovate, obovate or obovate-oblong, base blunt, round or somewhat heart-shaped, tip pointed or blunt, margin entire, finely velvet-hairy when young, hairless when mature, shiny, leathery; lateral nerves 8-20 pairs, parallel, prominent. The flowers are solitary or in small clusters, white or pale yellow, with a tubular-based flower with 5-12 petals, form 5-12 cm diameter. Fruit is a berry, 4 x 3 cm, ellipsoid or oblong; seeds wrinkled. Gummy Gardenia is native to Peninsular India.
Medicinal uses: This species can be helpful in treating digestive problems, including dyspepsia and diarrhea; or used as an astringent and expectorant for nervous conditions and spasms.

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The flower labeled Gummy Gardenia is ...