Shrub vinca - Kopsia fruticosa

Common Name :	Shrub vinca, Pink Gardenia, Pink Kopsia.
Botanical Name :	Kopsia fruticosa
Family :	Apocynaceae
Bangla Name :	Dakur (ডাকুর ফুল).
Photo Taken :	Bangladesh, Ireland

From the name we can easily understand that the flower has a close similarity with the Vinca flower. This flowering plant is native to our South Asian and East Asian region. Binomial name of the plant is Kopsia fruticosa. It belongs to the plant family Apocynaceae. It has several common names which are Shrub vinca, Pink Kopsia, Pink Gardenia, etc. In Bangladesh we call the flower as Dakur.

Shrub vinca (Kopsia fruticosa) is an evergreen plant having glossy elliptical or oval leafs. The leafs are having a pointed tip. Leafs are oppositely arranged around the stem. Shrub vinca is a shrubby plant that can grow up to four meter in height if not pruned (also in suitable condition). But this is a slow growing plant. Propagation of this plant can be done using cutting.

Flowers of Shrub vinca (Kopsia fruticosa) are very much showy and beautiful. Flowers bloom in a cluster. Small flowers are having exactly five petals on top of a long thin tube. Color of the flower is initially pale pink but later it becomes white before withering. Each petals are having a deep pink near the center of the flower (makes it a deep pink circle at the center). This flower blooms more or less throughout the year.

Shrub vinca (Kopsia fruticosa) plant requires partial or full sun to grow and bloom, and also requires warm weather condition. These properties make it suitable to grow Shrubby vinca in our country (also it is native here). But still we do not see this plant that much in Bangladesh these days. I have seen one at our Botanical garden, Dhaka.

Photos of Shrub vinca (Kopsia fruticosa) were taken from the following locations:
 1) March 2013: Mymensingh Botanical Garden, Bangladesh.
 2) June 2016: Botanic Garden, Ireland.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icflora.blogspot.com/