The Spanish word 'gardenia' comes from the New Latin scientific name 'Gardenia', which was created by the famous botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Linnaeus named this genus of flowering shrubs after Dr. Alexander Garden (1730-1791), a Scottish naturalist and physician who lived in South Carolina and corresponded with Linnaeus about American flora. This is an example of an eponym - a word derived from someone's name.

Since 'gardenia' is a direct borrowing from the scientific Latin name, there aren't any simpler Spanish words that share its etymology. The word stands alone in Spanish vocabulary as a tribute to Dr. Garden.

The English word 'gardenia' is exactly the same as the Spanish word, as both languages borrowed it directly from Linnaeus's scientific Latin name. While it might be tempting to connect it to the word 'garden', they are not actually related - remember that 'gardenia' comes from a person's surname, while 'garden' has Germanic origins.