Gardenia taitensis
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| Gardenia taitensis | ||||||||||||||
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| Gardenia taitensis J.Hilyard |
Gardenia taitensis (also called Tiare Māori or Tahitian Gardenia) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family. National flower of French Polynesia & the Cook Islands. The name Tahitian Gardenia is somewhat a misnomer because it is neither native nor naturalised in Tahiti. The first acceptable scientific name for the plant was based on Tahitian specimens collected by Dumont d'Urville in 1824. Hence the scientific name of Gardenia taitensis, and the English name of Tahitian Gardenia. It is interesting to note that it was also first collected in Tahiti, by the Forsters on Captain Cook's first Pacific voyage (1768-1771), although it was mis-identified as Gardenia florida.
Native to the highland shores of the South Pacific, it has the distinction of being one of the few cultivated plants native to Polynesia. The intoxicating sweet fragrant blossoms are creamy white works of art. Large flowers 3" in diameter, large glossy oval leaves.
[edit] Synonyms
- Tiare Mā'ohi / Tiare Tahiti (Tahitian)
- Tiare Māori / Tiale Māoli (Rarotongan)
- Pua Samoa / Pua fiti (Samoan)
- Siale Tonga (Tongan)
