gardenia

[ gahr-dee-nyuh, -nee-uh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

any evergreen tree or shrub belonging to the genus Gardenia, of the madder family, native to the warmer parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, cultivated for its usually large, fragrant white flowers.
the flower of any of these plants.

gardenia

/ ɡɑːˈdiːnɪə /

any evergreen shrub or tree of the Old World tropical rubiaceous genus Gardenia, cultivated for their large fragrant waxlike typically white flowers
the flower of any of these shrubs

< New Latin (1760), after Alexander Garden (1730–91), American physician; -ia

C18: New Latin, named after Dr Alexander Garden (1730–91), American botanist

Other perfumey flowers, including hyacinth, jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, paperwhite and lilac, are also more likely to irritate sensitive noses.

On the nose, pear and candied lemon unite with soft gardenia.

A daisy in the grass bored him; a gardenia emitting its strangely unreal perfume on a dung heap brought all his powers into play.

Nearly twenty years ago, and the faint scent of the Gardenia Florida remains in my nostrils!

And now what will you wear in your button-hole—a gardenia, or some violets?

Gordon was sitting on the corner of the bed, looking very fine with a gardenia in his buttonhole.

He was wearing a morning coat, faultlessly pressed, and in its buttonhole bloomed a gardenia.

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