Wrightia antidysenterica- ‘Coral Swirl’ By Mick O’Brien
Wrightia antidysenterica- ‘Coral swirl’ is a beautiful ornamental flowering, semi- deciduous perennial that loves growing in the subtropics, its origins hail from Sri Lanka. It grows to 1 to 2 metres tall with a spread of 1.5 metres and produces masses of flowers from spring to autumn. The flowers are fragrant, and star shaped with 5 petals that are vivid white in colour and have a white lacy- frilly corolla with a yellow stamen centre. They are semi deciduous in the coldest of winters but when growing in the subtropics tend to be mostly evergreen and free flowering throughout the year. They like well drained loamy soil that is slightly acidic and grow well in full sun to part shade but do best protected from salt winds. Wrightia antidysenterica gets its name from the botanist William Wright and the Latin name antidysenterica; pertaining to its medical qualities for anti- dysentery- and is well known in Ayurvedic medicine studies and is called "kuţaja" in Sanskrit.