The Wild Gardenia

Growing wild in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, is the small evergreen tree Gardenia ternifolia – otherwise known as the Wild Gardenia or the Large-Leafed Gardenia.

It grows to about 5 metres, and has flowers followed by fruit that attracts butterflies.

The Wild Gardenia is in the coffee family of plants, and is native to the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar, and the Pacific Islands.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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