Here is a pretty little broadleaf evergreen that I saw in the St. John's Botanical Garden in Hastings, Florida.  The director of the garden didn't know the name of this plant.  Can anyone identify it?  It is fairly young.  I think the average leaf size was approximately 4 inches long (guess).

 

1 hour ago, VA Jeff said:

Here is a pretty little broadleaf evergreen that I saw in the St. John's Botanical Garden in Hastings, Florida.  The director of the garden didn't know the name of this plant.  Can anyone identify it?  It is fairly young.  I think the average leaf size was approximately 4 inches long (guess).

 

W/ out any flowers and/or fruit, it could be a few different things. 

That said, as soon as i saw it, " Viburnum - something -ish " came to mind pretty quickly as a shot in the dark guess. 

Appears that there is more than one of  ..whatever it is..  so it might be something native also.


Sounds like the garden needs to get on top of labeling stuff, regardless. 

Rambutan?

18 minutes ago, Than said:

Rambutan?

😂 Wishful thinking in N. FL. Too cold there for those.

27 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

😂 Wishful thinking in N. FL. Too cold there for those.

omg I missed the title of the thread and only read "Florida" 😁

Looks a lot like coffee or a relative as another possibility 

10 hours ago, Motlife said:

Looks a lot like coffee or a relative as another possibility 

Crossed my mind also,  but the leaf shape / arrangement don't look quite right for either Coffea or FL.'s native Psychotria sps.  Growing conditions it is growing in could alter those details a bit though.   

That said,  garden's theme leans more naturalistic,  so the 2nd possibility would make sense.  

It's in a primarily palm garden on the border of zone 9a/b. I'm thinking it might be gardenia taitensis.

7 minutes ago, VA Jeff said:

Gardenia taitensis.

Unless a cultivar like " Frost Proof ",  taitensis is a Zone 10a and above plant that can only handle brief / infrequent exposure below 30F.. 

Would be a pile of mush if exposed to the kind of cold they experienced earlier this year.

Note on their website  that St John's is both a preserve...  and   garden,  full of other plants,  ...not just palms. 

This looks a lot like Gardenia 'miami supreme' or Gardenia taitensis. I've had very good luck with both of them in previous winters taking mid 20s with no damage or leaf drop. Last winter at 23 degrees both went to the ground and I have not seen any sign of life. 

The botanical garden saw a low of 21 F this winter.  some of the tender stuff got protected, but this plant is less likely to be protected.  The founder,  John Rossi, is a major palmophile, and secondarily into other subtropical plants.  It is a nice garden to see even tropical palms in mid-north Florida.  A lot of palms you normally think of as tropical grow there.   Pritchardias,  Johannesteijmannia, roystoneas, archontophoenix, and even a couple coconuts survived this winter, with damage.

When I first saw the picture, I immediately thought "Tahitian gardenia". I've got one planted right in the front of my house, and it actually survived 25⁰ this winter and didn't even defoliate. No protection at all either.

It does look a bit like a Gardenia, even with the yellow leaf. Gardenia leaves yellow and drop from excess water