Lesser Periwinkle
Vinca minor
Summary 6
Vinca minor (common names lesser periwinkle or dwarf periwinkle) is a species of flowering plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, east to the Caucasus, and also southwestern Asia in Turkey. Other vernacular names used in cultivation include small periwinkle, common periwinkle, and sometimes in the United States, myrtle or creeping myrtle, although this is misleading, as the name myrtle normally refers to the...
Description and biology 7
- Plant: vine-like erect or trailing groundcover; mostly evergreen; stems slender.
- Leaves: opposite, dark green, glossy, oval to lance-shaped, thick-textured; may be variegated.
- Flowers, fruits and seeds: flower blue, lavender or white, about 1 in. across, five petals blunt at tip, arranged in spiral; springtime; no fruits or seeds typically.
- Spreads: vegetatively through rhizomes.
- Look-alikes: may be confused with several close relatives of this plant, including bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca major), imported from Europe, and Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), native only to Madagascar, both also invasive in natural areas in the mid-Atlantic and other parts of the United States; and winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei).
Sources and Credits
- (c) fredfuncky, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/129384474@N06/16926046260/
- (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Vinca-minor-64890.JPG
- (c) Ondřej Zicha, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/507.jpg
- (c) Bas Kers, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3355830445_7dac23df35.jpg
- (c) Bas Kers, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3356650944_afa8becf62.jpg
- Adapted by Kate Wagner from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinca_minor
- (c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22733989
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Calflora
- CalPhotos
- eFloras.org
- Flora Digital de Portugal
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- Go Botany
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Jepson eFlora
- Maryland Biodiversity Project
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- NBN Atlas
- New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
- OregonFlora.org
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
- 日本のレッドデータ検索システム
- 植物和名−学名インデックス YList
