Vinca

Vinca (from Latin vincire "to bind, fetter") or Periwinkle is a genus of five species in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The common name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus.

They are subshrubs or herbaceous, and have slender trailing stems 1-2 m (3-6 feet) long but not growing more than 20-70 cm (8-30 inches) above ground; the stems frequently take root where they touch the ground, enabling the plant to spread widely. The leaves are opposite, simple broad lanceolate to ovate, 1-9 cm (0.25-3.5 inches) long and 0.5-6 cm (0.25-2.25 inches) broad; they are evergreen in four species, but deciduous in the herbaceous Vinca herbacea, which dies back to the root system in winter. Vinca will spread extremely fast.

The flowers, produced through most of the year, are salverform, simple, 2.5-7 cm (1-3 inches) broad, with five usually violet (occasionally white) petals joined together at the base to form a tube. The fruit consists of a group of divergent follicles; a dry fruit which is dehiscent along one rupture site in order to release seeds.


Species
Vinca herbacea (Herbaceous Periwinkle) is a flowering plant native to eastern and southeastern Europe, from Austria south to Greece, and east to the Crimea, and also in southwestern Asia east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains. It grows mainly in steppe habitats.
It is a herbaceous perennial growing as a trailing vine, spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form clonal colonies, growing up to 10-20 cm high. The leaves are opposite, lanceolate, 1-5 cm long and 0.2-3 cm broad, glossy green with an entire margin, and nearly sessile with only a very short petiole. The flowers are produced in late summer, blue-violet or occasionally white, 2.5-3.5 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla.
Uses: It is occasionally grown in temperate gardens as a rock garden plant.

Vinca major (commonly known as Large Periwinkle, Greater Periwinkle or Blue Periwinkle), is a flowering plant native to southern Europe, from Spain and southern France east to the western Balkans, and also in northeastern Turkey and the western Caucasus.
It is an evergreen trailing vine, spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form patches of ground cover 2-5 m across and scrambling up to 50-70 cm high. The leaves are opposite, 3-9 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire but distinctly hairy margin, and a hairy petiole 1-2 cm long. The flowers are produced from early spring to autumn, violet-purple, 3-5 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla.

Vinca minor (Lesser Periwinkle) is a plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, and east to the Caucasus, and also in southwestern Asia in Turkey. It is a trailing subshrub, spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form large clonal colonies and occasionally scrambling up to 40 cm high but never twining or climbing. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 2-4.5 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire margin. The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and are produced mainly from early spring to mid summer but with a few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections), 2-3 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2.5 cm long, containing numerous seeds. The closely related species Vinca major is similar but larger in all parts, and also has relatively broader leaves with a hairy margin.
Uses: The species is commonly grown as a groundcover in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. The species has few pests or diseases outside it native range and is widely naturalised and classified as an invasive species in parts of North America.

Vinca difformis

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