Gardenia is a genus of 142 species of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after Dr. Alexander Garden (1730 to 1791), a Scottish-born American naturalist. They are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to 1 to 15 metres tall. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three or four, 5 to 50 centimetres long and 3 to 25 centimetres broad, dark green and glossy with a leathery texture. The flowers are solitary or in small clusters, white, or pale yellow, with a tubular-based corolla with 5 to 12 lobes (petals) from 5 to 12 centimetres diameter. Flowering is from about mid-spring to mid-summer and many species are strongly scented.

Gardenia ternifolia ssp jovis-tonantis or Large-leaved Transvaal gardenia as it is commonly known is a spectacular tree that grows to 7m in height. It has grey/yellowish-brown bark, hairy leaves with wavy margins and white sweetly scented flowers from spring to summer. These are followed by velvety fruit which have traditionally been used to ward off lightning in a magical way.