Gardenia volkensii

[1] Gardenia volkensii is a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree with short, rigid branches.

[1] Shiny spoon-shaped leaves are found clustered at the end of knobbly branchlets.

[1][2] It has been recorded in fourteen countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

[1] The leaves are also important for insects, including Carlisis wahlbergi and the caterpillars of Deudorix dinochares.

[2] This species is known to have been used medicinally to treat a variety of conditions in at least eleven of the countries in which it naturally occurs.

[3][5] It is used to treat respiratory infections such as asthma and tuberculosis (Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe), menstrual problems (Zimbabwe), infertility (Kenya and Zimbabwe), gastro-intestinal problems (Eswatini, Mozambique and Namibia) and epilepsy (Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, South Africa and Namibia), amongst others.

The life stages of a Gardenia volkensii flower from a young white flower to an older yellow flower to a fruit that ultimately withers.
The life stages of a Gardenia volkensii flower from a young white flower (top left) to an older yellow flower (top right) to a fruit (bottom left) that ultimately withers (bottom right).
The leaves, fruits and older (yellow) flowers of a Gardenia volkensii.
The leaves, fruits and older (yellow) flowers of a Gardenia volkensii .