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Named after Charles Bouvard, the personal physician to Louis XIII and the superintendent of the Royal Gardens in Paris, modern varieties of bouvardia have names such as Pink Luck, Albatross and Royal Katty. Their star-like flowers grow in clusters on thin, branching stems, like small flower bouquets in soft shades of pink, white, yellow, salmon and red. With a delicate scent and feminine appearance, in the language of flowers, bouvardia represent enthusiasm.

Bouvardia is a genus of about 30 species of evergreen herbs and shrubs in the family Rubiaceae, native to tropical America.

They grow to 0.6-1.5 m tall. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of 3-5, ovate to lanceolate, 3-11 cm long. The flowers are in terminal, generally many-flowered clusters; the corolla has a large tube and four spreading lobes.

Several species of Bouvardia are grown as ornamental plants, both in the tropics and indoors as houseplants in temperate regions. Several cultivars and hybrids have been selected. When grown as houseplants, a minimum winter temperature of 7 °C is required, with a minimum of 12 °C while in flower. Propagation of the cultivars is by cuttings taken in late spring or summer, which need to be kept at a temperature of 20 °C by night and 25 °C during the day, and shaded when required. 

Bouvardia Flower Pictures