Burke: Vinca major vs. Vinca minor

	Vinca major	Vinca minor
	greater periwinkle	lesser periwinkle
Habit	Glabrous, perennial herbs with milky juice, the branches 1-3 dm. long, often trailing and rooting.	Perennial herbs with milky juice, the stems more or less prostrate, rooting, nearly glabrous.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, long-petiolate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3-9 cm. long, with fine hairs along the margins.	Leaves opposite, ovate to elliptic, 2.5-5 cm. long, short-petiolate, rather leathery.
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.	Flowers solitary in the leaf axils, on long pedicels; calyx divided nearly to the base, the 5 lobes linear; corolla blue-violet, with long, narrow tube and 5 widely-spreading, truncate to rounded lobes, 25-30 mm. 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.	Follicles elongate, forked.

	Vinca major	Vinca minor
Flowering time	June-August	March-May
Habitat	Disturbed forest understory and edge, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed areas at low elevations.	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]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, also in Montana, and east across the Great Plains to eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. minor	V. major
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	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: 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

Vinca minor

greater periwinkle

lesser periwinkle

Habit

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

Perennial herbs with milky juice, the stems more or less prostrate, rooting, nearly glabrous.

Leaves

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

Leaves opposite, ovate to elliptic, 2.5-5 cm. long, short-petiolate, rather leathery.

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.

Flowers solitary in the leaf axils, on long pedicels;

calyx divided nearly to the base, the 5 lobes linear;

corolla blue-violet, with long, narrow tube and 5 widely-spreading, truncate to rounded lobes, 25-30 mm. 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.

Follicles elongate, forked.

Vinca major

Vinca minor

Flowering time

June-August

March-May

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]

Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, also in Montana, and east across the Great Plains to eastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Introduced from Europe

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa

V. minor

V. major

Web links