Gardenia mannii, a member of the Rubiaceae (coffee) family, is a tree 5 to 15 m (16 to 50 ft) tall. The leaves are inversely lance-shaped or slightly more elliptic, 6 to 27 cm (2.4 to 10.6 in) long, and 3.5 to 10 cm (1.4 to 4 in) wide. The upper leaf surface is sticky. The fragrant flowers bloom in the late afternoon, and usually last for 2 days. They are solitary and occur at the branch tips. The cup-shaped calyx, 3 to 5 mm (0.1 to 0.2 in) long, extends into four to six leathery, long, thin, terminal spurs (hollow appendages). These spurs are linear spatula-shaped, ‘‘S’’ shaped, or, rarely, sickle-shaped; 23 to 46 mm (0.9 to 1.8 in) long; and 5 to 11 mm (0.2 to 0.4 in) wide. The corolla is cream colored on the outside and white on the inside. The tubular portion of the flower is 17 to 27 mm (0.7 to 1 in) long (when dry), and the seven to nine lobes are 16 to 22 mm (0.6 to 0.9 in) long (when dry). The yellow to orange fruit is broadly elliptic.