Gardenia volkensii K.Schum.

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit

Shrub or tree, up to 4 m or more tall, with pale grey smooth bark

Morphology Branches

Branches greyish white, glabrous or pubescent

Morphology Leaves

Leaves sessile to shortly petiolate, crowded at ends of short shoots; blades obovate, mostly 2–9.5 x 1–5.5 cm, mostly rounded at the apex, glabrous to finely puberulous or slightly scabrid; stipules 2–5 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers solitary, sweet scented, subsessile

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx-lobes 7–9, c. 2–15 mm long or limb ± truncate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla white or cream turning yellow or orange, open at night; tube mostly 50–125 mm long; lobes 6–9, 20–50 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary Placenta

Placentas 6–9

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit ellipsoid to subglobose, 4–11 x 2.7–10 cm, usually with a thick fibrous or woody wall with prominent wart-like lenticels, unribbed to very markedly coarsely 8–11-ribbed

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds flat, 5–10 mm long, finely reticulate.

Distribution

S1–3; S Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa

Ecology

Altitude range 25–270 m.

Vernacular

Gan-boli, kurun-doye (Somali)

Note

The Somali material has large fruits with coarse ribs and conspicuous lenticels and belongs to subsp. volkensii var. volkensii .Var. saundersiae (N.E. Br.) Verdc. occurs in southern Africa, whilst subsp. spathulifolia (Stapf & Hutch.) Verdc. is distributed in Angola, Zambia and Botswana.

Rubiaceae, D.M.Bridson & B.Verdcourt. Flora Zambesiaca 5:3. 2003

Morphology General Habit

Trees or shrubs 0.9–10 m tall with thick crowns and occasionally arching branches which sometimes touch the ground; bark smooth, light grey, not breaking down to a powdery surface but sometimes flaking; branchlets pale, often greyish-white, glabrous or pubescent or puberulous only at the apices.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves tufted at the ends of short spreading lateral shoots which are arranged ternately; blades (0.8)2.5–9.5 × (0.8)1.7–5.5 cm, obovate or obcuneate and usually small when mature, mostly rounded at the apex, sometimes acute, distinctly cuneate at the base, occasionally crenate, (thinner in texture than in last species and with the venation finer and less prominent), glabrous or finely puberulous to slightly scabridulous; some young branchlets (particularly in the Flora Zambesiaca area) are distinctly heterophyllous with some leaves of very different shape, these leaves 8–18 × 1–5.4 cm, lanceolate to rhomboid- lanceolate; stipules 2–5 mm long, semi-circular to ovate-triangular, pubescent and ciliate; petiole 0–2(3) mm long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers open at night, solitary.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx tube 6–10 mm long, oblong, densely pubescent; limb-tube 5–14 mm long, glabrous or pubescent outside; lobes 7–9(10), extraordinarily variable, held at right angles to tube and decurrent, 2–15(20) × 0.5–8 mm, varying from small linear teeth to spathulate lobes or distinctly leaf-like, occasionally 2 joined to form a bifid lobe, glabrous, or limb ± truncate.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla white or cream-coloured, turning yellow or orange, very variable in size; tube (2.5)5–12.5 cm long, very narrowly cylindrical, usually more slender than in last species, glabrous; lobes 6–9, 2–7 × 1–4.5 cm, elliptic to narrowly obovate.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers

Anthers 1.3–2 cm long, inserted below the throat.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil

Ovary with 6–9 placentas; style hairy, yellow-green; pollen presenter 4–7 mm long, 6–9-lobed, shortly exserted.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit usually whitish, grey or greyish-orange, very variable in size, 4–11 × 2.7–10 cm, ellipsoid to subglobose, usually with a thick fibrous or woody wall 3–10 mm thick, usually with prominent wart-like lenticels, not ribbed to very markedly coarsely 8–11-ribbed; apical and basal depressions in detached fruits wider than in last species, c. 15 mm; stalk thick, up to 13 mm wide.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds pale yellow-brown, more flattened than in last species, (4)5–10 mm long, finely reticulate-shagreened.