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Common Name: Periwinkle or Myrtle
Scientific Name: Vinca minor
Family Name: Apocynaceae
Godshaw Hill
Tryon, North Carolina
March 23, 2002
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A low vine, with leaves opposite on the stem and a shiny, deep green. Flowers are light blue to blue-violet. It usually forms a fairly dense ground cover. Another species, V. major, has slightly larger flowers and leaves with a hairy margin. Both are European escapes from cultivation. April-May [Gupton, Oscar W. and Swope, Fred C. Wildflowers of the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains. The University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1979]
Low, evergreen, trailing plant with purplish-blue flowers borne singly in the leaf axils. Flowers: to 1" (2.5 cm) wide; corolla funnel-shaped, 5-lobed, with whitish star in center. Leaves: 1-1/2' (4 cm) long, shiny, dark green, opposite. Height: 6-8' (15-20 cm). This introduced plant, now escaped from cultivation, frequently forms extensive patches in woods. Its Latin name, pervinca (from the root "to bind"), is the source for both the present generic and common names. In the southern United States the erect Old Maid (Vinca rosea), with either pink or white flowers, often becomes well established. April-May [Niering, William A. and Olmstead, Nancy C., National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1995]
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z