Blue Periwinkle

Vinca major

Alternative Name(s): Periwinkle, Vinca, Sorcerer's violet, Big leaf periwinkle, Greater periwinkle, Blue buttons

Family: Apocynaceae.

Form: Vine

Origin: Native of central and southern Europe and northern Africa.

Flowers/Seedhead: Flowers: Axillary, solitary. Flowers mostly late winter to summer.

Description: Spreading perennial herb to 50 cm high. Leaves ovate, 1.5–9 cm long, 1.5–4.5 cm wide, glossy green above, paler below; on leaf stalk 0.5–1.5 cm long. Seeds flat, hairless, 7–8 mm long, 1–10 per fruit.

Distinguishing features: Distinguished by spreading stems that root at nodes and sometimes at tips; lacking milky latex; leaves opposite, hairless except for short marginal fringe; flowers surrounded at base by calyx 0.9–1.7 cm long with marginal hairs; flowers blue to mauve, 3–6 cm wide, tubular with 5 spreading lobes 1.3–2.5 cm long, stamens attached to inside of tube and within tube, anthers 2-chambered; fruit produced in pairs joined at the base, membranous, cylindrical 3.5–5 cm long, about 0.4 cm wide.

Dispersal: Spreads locally mainly by stems that root at nodes. Seed is apparently rarely produced in Australia. Long distance dispersal occurs via stem fragments and crowns dispersed as garden waste or by water.

Confused With: Likely to be confused with Lesser Periwinkle, Vinca minor. Lesser Periwinkle has smaller flowers with hairless calyx 3–4 mm long.