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Age of cuttings

Hi all,

A bit of an odd question:  How old is a cutting when it grows?  Eg., if I
cut a 2 year old twig from a 5 year old shrub, is the cutting 0 years (just
born), 2 years (the twig), or 5 years (the parent plant)?

The reason I ask, is that I grew a Gardenia thunbergia from a truncheon
taken off a mature bush, i.e. flowering maturity.  These gardenias don't
flower when they're young.  This cutting, small as it was, flowered
within a year or two, simultaneously with a seed-grown
Gardenia thunbergia many years old.  I believe these Gardenias can also
be grown from softwood cuttings. (Can anyone confirm/expand?)

Now, if all other things such as ease of propagation are equal, the time
taken to reach flowering maturity would lead me to chose the method
which gives the "oldest" cutting.  If it's as old as the parent plant or 0
years (unlikely?), it wouldn't matter if it were from a young or old twig. 
But if the cutting were as old as the twig (most likely?) truncheons would
give flowering plants sooner than softwood.

Regards,
Martin
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