gardenia

American  

[gahr-dee-nyuh, -nee-uh] / gɑrˈdi nyə, -ni ə /

noun

1. 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.

2. the flower of any of these plants.

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gardenia British  

/ ɡɑːˈdiːnɪə /

noun

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

2. the flower of any of these shrubs

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Etymology

Origin of gardenia

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

Example Sentences

“I did not become famous,” Ms. Babitz wrote in “Slow Days, Fast Company,” “but I got near enough to smell the stench of success. It smelt like cloth and rancid gardenias.”

From Washington Post

There is also a new open-air atrium just off the salon, in which birds of paradise, honeysuckle and gardenia flourish.

From New York Times

I love the smell of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon in wintertime, then gardenia, tuberose and lavender in summer.

From Seattle Times

Some, like tuberose and gardenia, open in the day but grow more potent and explicit after sundown, exuding a heavy-lidded fragrance of sweetness teetering on decay.

From New York Times

In 2015, Hummel proposed a modified smell training regimen with a wider range of odors including menthol, thyme, tangerine, jasmine, green tea, rosemary, bergamot, and gardenia.

From Salon