Burke: Vinca major

	Vinca major
	greater periwinkle
Habit	Glabrous, perennial herbs with milky juice, the branches 1-3 dm. long, often trailing and rooting.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, long-petiolate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3-9 cm. long, with fine hairs along the margins.
Flowers	Flowers solitary in the leaf axils, on long pedicels; calyx divided nearly to the base, the 5 lobes linear, with short bristles on the margins; corolla blue, with long, narrow tube and 5 widely-spreading, truncate lobes, 3-5 cm. broad; tube about 2 cm. long, crested and hairy in the throat; stamens 5, attached below the throat, the filaments short; style elongate, the stigma ovoid, tapering to a truncate apex; ovary superior.
Fruits	Follicles 3-5 cm. long.

	Vinca major
Flowering time	June-August
Habitat	Disturbed forest understory and edge, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed areas at low elevations.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest and east in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. minor
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Vinca major

greater periwinkle

Habit

Glabrous, perennial herbs with milky juice, the branches 1-3 dm. long, often trailing and rooting.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, long-petiolate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3-9 cm. long, with fine hairs along the margins.

Flowers

Flowers solitary in the leaf axils, on long pedicels;

calyx divided nearly to the base, the 5 lobes linear, with short bristles on the margins;

corolla blue, with long, narrow tube and 5 widely-spreading, truncate lobes, 3-5 cm. broad;

tube about 2 cm. long, crested and hairy in the throat;

stamens 5, attached below the throat, the filaments short;

style elongate, the stigma ovoid, tapering to a truncate apex;

ovary superior.

Fruits

Follicles 3-5 cm. long.

Vinca major

Flowering time

June-August

Habitat

Disturbed forest understory and edge, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed areas at low elevations.

Distribution

Occurring west of the Cascades crest and east in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho, Utah, and Arizona,

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Introduced from Europe

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa

V. minor

Web links