Kopsia fruticosa

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Apocynaceae

Trees , shrubs , or vines , rarely subshrubs or herbs, with latex or rarely watery juice. Leaves simple , opposite, rarely whorled or alternate, pinnately veined; stipules absent or rarely present. Inflorescences cymose , terminal or axillary , with bracteoles. Flowers bisexual , 5- [or 4]-merous, actinomorphic . Calyx 5- or rarely 4-partite, quincuncial, basal glands usually present. Corolla 5- or rarely 4-lobed, salverform , funnelform , urceolate , or rarely rotate, lobes overlapping to right or left, rarely valvate . Stamens 5 or rarely 4; filaments short; anthers mostly sagittate , free or connivent into a cone adherent to pistil head , dehiscing longitudinally, base rounded , cordate, sagittate, or prolonged into an empty spur; pollen granular ; disc ringlike or cup-shaped, 2-5-lobed, or absent. Ovaries superior, rarely half-inferior, connate or distinct , 1- or 2-locular; ovules (1 or) 2-numerous per locule. Style 1; pistil head capitate, conical , or lampshade-shaped, base stigmatic, apex 2-cleft and not stigmatic . Fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, or follicle. Seeds with or without coma; endosperm thick and often horny , scanty, sometimes absent; embryo straight or nearly so, cotyledons often large, radicle terete .

About 155 genera and 2000 species distributed primarily in the tropics and subtropics, poorly represented in the temperate regions . Of the 44 genera and 145 species present in China, one genus and 38 species are endemic, and nearly 95% of the taxa grow in the southern and southwestern portions of the country.

Fruit type is highly diversified in the family , and it is diagnostic of many genera. Genera 1-4 produce 1, 2-celled berries from a flower; genus 5 produces 2, 1-celled berries from a flower; 6 and 7 produce mostly fleshy follicles containing deeply indented seeds with ruminate endosperm; 8 has follicles and winged seeds; 9 produces follicles and seeds with 2 comas; 10-12 have follicles with globose seeds; 13-18 have drupes mostly with fleshy mesocarp; 19 has samaroid fruit; 20 has spiny capsules with seeds winged all around; and 21-44 have free or fused follicles and comose seeds. Double flowers are known only from cultivated forms of Nerium oleander, Tabernaemontana divaricata, and Wrightia religiosa.

Plants of the Apocynaceae are often poisonous and are rich in alkaloids or glycosides, especially in the seeds and latex. Some species are valuable sources of medicine, insecticides , fibers, and rubber.[1]

Genus Kopsia

Trees or shrubs with white latex. Leaves opposite. Cymes terminal , 3- to many flowered, bracteate ; peduncle long or short; bracteoles small or large. Flowers white or rose, 5-merous. Calyx small, deeply divided , without glands . Corolla salverform , tube 2.3-5 cm, narrow, dilated at or below apex; throat without scales , pilose inside; lobes overlapping to right . Stamens inserted above middle of corolla tube; filaments very short; anthers narrowly oblong or ovate , included , free from pistil head , base rounded ; disc scales alternate with ovaries. Ovaries 2, distinct ; ovules 2 per locule. Style filiform ; pistil head thickened, with a short basal collar and apiculate apex. Drupes 1 or 2, ellipsoid , 1- or 2-seeded. Seeds oblong, testa membranous, not comose .

About 20 species: SE Asia, three in China.[2]

Physical Description

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 18-24" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Cerbera fruticosa Ker Gawler • Kopsia vinciflora Blume.

Notes

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Place of publication : Prodr. 8:352. 1844

Name verified on 17-Sep-1999 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 17-Sep-1999

Similar Species

Members of the genus Kopsia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 4 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

K. arborea (Pin-Mala) · K. fruticosa (Kopsia Merah) · K. pruniformis (Kopsia) · K. singaporensis (White Kopsia)

More Info

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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A bibliographic enumeration of Bornean plants, by E. D. Merrill. Singapore, Printed by Fraser & Neave, ltd., 1921 url p. 500, p. 500.
• A handbook of tropical gardening and planting, with special reference to Ceylon, by H. F. Macmillan. .. Colombo, H.W. Cave & co., 1914. url p. 461.
• A manual of Indian timbers; an account of the growth, distribution, and uses of the trees and shrubs of India and Ceylon with descriptions of their wood-structure, by J. S. Gamble... London: S. Low, Marston & co. ltd., 1902. url p. 482.
• Annales du Jardin botanique de Buitenzorg. Leiden [etc.]: E. J. Brill [etc.] url , p. 274.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 500.
• Burma, its people and productions; or, Notes on the fauna, flora, and minerals of Tenasserim, Pegu, and Burma. Hertford: S. Austin, 1882-1883. url p. 345.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 415, p. 427, p. 461, p. 470, p. 544.
• Indian trees: an account of trees, shrubs, woody climbers, bamboos, and palms indigenous or commonly cultivated in the British Indian empire / London: A. Constable, 1906. url p. 458.
• Johnson's Gardeners' dictionary and cultural instructor. London, A. T. De La Mare printing and publishing co., ltd.[1916] url p. 195.
• Journal of botany, British and foreign. 31 1893 London: Robert Hardwicke, 1863-1942. url p. 314.
• List of duplicate plants in the Government Botanic Gardens, November 1874. Port-of-Spain: G.P.O., 1874. url p. 5.
• New or noteworthy Philippine plants. .. / by Elmer D. Merrill. Manila: Bureau of Public Printing, 1904-1922. url p. 436.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url p. 98.
• The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 528, p. 727, p. 96.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 494.
• The Philippine journal of science. 23 1923 Manila. url p. 263, p. 436.
• The flora of British India /By J. D. Hooker assisted by various botanists. Published under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council. 3 1882 London: L. Reeve, 1875-97. url p. 639.
• The forest trees of Mysore and Coorg. Bangalore, Mysore Govt. Central Press, 1894. url , .
• The gardens' bulletin, Straits Settlements. Singapore: Straits Times Press, 1913-1941. url p. 201, p. 362, p. 396.
• The standard cyclopedia of horticulture; a discussion, for the amateur, and the professional and commercial grower, of the kinds, characteristics and methods of cultivation of the species of plants grown in the regions of the United States a Illustrated with colored plates, four thousand engravings in the text, and ninety-six full-page cuts. New York, Macmillan, 1919 [c1914] url p. 1757.
• Vernacular list of trees, shrubs, and woody climbers in the Madras Presidency. Madras, Printed by the Superintendant, Government Press, 1915. url p. 422, p. 475, p. 548, p. 682, p. 777, p. 869.
• Tsiang Ying & Li Ping-tao. 1977. Apocynaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 63: 1-249.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 1
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:79497-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 21251
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 79497-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 606733

Footnotes

1. Bingtao Li, Antony J. M. Leeuwenberg & David J. Middleton "Apocynaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 143. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Kopsia". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 162. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.