Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Vinca major

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, Moruya

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Black Mountain, Canberra

Carpet. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer K O'Ryan, Yarralumla Nursery, Canberra

Common name

Greater Periwinkle, Periwinkle, Blue Periwinkle

Family

Apocynaceae

Where found

Urban forest, woodland, roadsides, gardens, disturbed sites, waste areas, and along streams. Widespread.

Notes

Introduced trailing or prostrate perennial herb to 0.5 m tall, rooting at the nodes, forming mats to 10 m or more in diameter. Stems hairless. Leaves opposite each other, 0.5-8 cm long, 10–60 mm wide, tips pointed, bases rounded, squared off or slightly cordate, margins fringed, upper surface glossy green in nature, lower surface paler and duller. Leaf stalks  5–12 mm long, with 2 small glands on the margins. Flowers 20–60 mm in diameter, blue, mauve, violet, purple, or white, tubular, with 5 lobes. Sepals 12–16 mm long, margins fringed. Flowers usually single. Flowers mainly Spring to Summer.

General Biosecurity Duty all NSW. Pest plant ACT.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Vinca~major (accessed 8 February, 2021)