The shrubs and trees known as gardenias form the genus Gardenia and are prized for their fragrant, waxlike flowers of white or yellow. Some 200 species are all native to warm parts of the Old World, notably China, India, and South Africa. The most widely cultivated species is the Cape jasmine, native to China. Its large, berrylike fruits contain a sticky orange pulp, which is the source of a yellow dye used mainly in Asia.Gardenias are named for Dr. Alexander Garden (1730-91), a noted naturalist and physician of Charleston, S.C., who first described the genus Gardenia. Gardenias belong to the madder family, Rubiaceae
Gardenia is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania.