Mitriostigma axillare

Common Name: African Gardenia

Family: Rubiaceae

Country of Origin: Mozambique to NE. Cape Prov.

Description: Evergreen shrub 0.5–4 m tall; bark brown, smooth, adhering. Buds hairless. Twigs hairless, stout, dull, brown or green. Leaf scars opposite, meeting as a line. Stems square, thornless. Leaves opposite, simple; petioles 5–10 mm long, glabrous or nearly so; bases not unusually enlarged; buds well exposed; leaf blade 60–100(–200) mm long, 20–30(–60) mm wide, lanceolate to elliptical, apex acute, base obtuse to truncate, surface glossy above, dull, hairless below, veins hairless or nearly so, margin not toothed. Inflorescence an axillary, erect head, flower-stalks hairless. Flower radially symmetrical, bisexual. Calyx tubular, lobes 5, lanceolate, green. Corolla tubular, lobes 5, oblong, 20–30 mm long, 15–20 mm wide, white to yellow, without markings. Stamens 5; filaments free, inserted on perianth, all the same length. Ovary inferior, 2-locular. Style 1. Fruit a hairless, ellipsoid berry (10–)12–25 mm long; rind smooth, thin and soft, orange. Seeds 8–12 mm long, 2–4 mm wide.³

USDA Zone: 10a-11

Accession #: 198500648

Accession Date: 1985-12-31 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 1108

Quantity: 3

Source: Unknown

Culture: Tolerates a temperature range of 50F-80F, susceptible to root problems if kept too wet. Use well drained mix, let dry visibly between watering, even to the point of slight wilting ok. Bright light and good humidity.

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: euasterid I

Order: Gentianales

Family: Rubiaceae

SubFamily: Ixoroideae

Tribe: Gardenieae