Nn, n or Forest gardeniaRubiaceae (Coffee family)Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Extant on Oahu, Lnai. Extinct on Molokai, West Maui and Hawaii island)IUCN: Critically EndangeredOahu (Cultivated; origin: Oahu*)Flowers (pua) are very fragrant which are similar to other gardenia species. * The mother plant in the wild is now gone. There's perhaps only one wild G. brighamii now left on Oahu.My photos of the last n on Oahu:
www.flickr.com/photos/50823119@N08/4756043721 /
www.flickr.com/photos/50823119@N08/4756045197 /
www.flickr.com/photos/50823119@N08/4756682758 /
www.flickr.com/photos/50823119@N08/4756044067 /
www.flickr.com/photos/50823119@N08/4756683066 /
www.flickr.com/photos/50823119@N08/4756043259 /The beautiful fragrant flowers were strung into lei by early Hawaiians, even as they are sometimes used today.Kapa anvils or kua kuku on which kapa was beaten in the second-stage process was made from the wood of n.The intense orange-yellow colored pulp of the fruit was also used to dye to kapa a rich yellow by early Hawaiians for the alii. This vibrant color used for kapa was called n or nn, after the plant itself.Pulp/dye
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/14283145931/in/photolist...www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/14283227081/in/photolist...EtymologyThe generic name Gardenia is named in honor of Alexander Garden (1730-1791) of Charleston, South Carolina who was a botanist, zoologist and physician, and correspondent to John Ellis, zoologist, and Carolus Linnaeus, who devised the classification of genus/species we presently used today.The specific epithet brighamii, is named in honor of William Tufts Brigham (1841-1926), geologist, botanist and the first direction of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.NPH00010
nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Gardenia_brighamii