Gardenia. Gardenia grandiflora.

Gardenia. Gardenia grandiflora Lour. (Fam. Rubiaceae.)—A Chinese tree, the fruit of which is employed in dyeing the yellow robes of the mandarins, and, according to Lorenz Mayor, contains crocin, which in powder is of a bright red color, and soluble in water and alcohol. According to the researches of Kayser (Ber. d. Chem. Ges., 1884, 2228), its formula is C₄₄H₇₀O₂₈. When heated with diluted hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, it is decomposed into crocetin, C₃₄H₄₆O₉, and a dextrorotatory sugar called crocose. Alkalies bring about the same decomposition almost instantly. Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves both the crocin and crocetin with deep blue color. The fruit of another species, G. campanulata, Roxb., growing in the forests of Chittagong, in India, is said to be used by the natives as a cathartic and anthelmintic. (Lindley, Flor. Med; 434.)

The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 1918, was edited by Joseph P. Remington, Horatio C. Wood and others.