Gardenia scabrella is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, and has been used in street and amenity plantings in Cairns.
Description Gardenia scabrella is a small evergreen tree to high. Leaves are arranged in whorls of three or sometimes in opposite pairs. They are oblanceolate to obovate and measure up to long and wide. They have a papery texture and are glossy, with a mid-green upper surface and dull light green below, rough and pointed at the apex. Flowers white-cream, solitary, terminal, buds pale green and calyx cylindrical. The fruit is a long ellipsoid shape, up to long and wide.
Taxonomy and naming Gardenia scabrella was first formally described in 1988 by Christopher Francis Puttock and the description was published in Austrobaileya. The specific epithet (scabrella) means 'rough'.
Distribution and habitat This species grows in vine thickets in areas of high rainfall north of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.
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