The Periwinkles
What are they?
Periwinkles are European plants that are closely related to the native milkweeds and sometimes placed in the same family. They are popular garden plants, used as fast-growing ground cover plants.
Where are they found?
Both species may spread from nearby gardens into adjacent habitats and may be found in any kind of shaded or semi-shaded habitat.
Identification
Though superficially very similar, the two species are quite different in leaf and flower shape and size.
Madagascar Periwinkle Catharanthus roseus
Native of Madagascar. A common and very popular summer bedding plant, much used by municipalities in roadside planting schemes. Very occasionally found as an adventive weed on roadsides and waste places, but doesn't survive the winter and unlikely to become established. Flowers June to November. Leaves are distinctly highly glossy. Flowers may be any shade of red, pink or pale purple, or white and usually with a contrasting dark eye (or pale eye in darker-flowered forms).
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Lesser Periwinkle Vinca minor
An introduced species from Europe. Widely planted as a groundcover plant and often spreading to neighboring roadsides, hedgerows, woodland and waste ground. Can be locally common. Flowers March to June.
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young shoots |
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Greater Periwinkle Vinca major
An introduced species from Europe. Occasionally planted as a groundcover plant, from where it may spread to neighboring ground. Much rarer than Lesser Periwinkle, from which it differs in being larger in all its parts. Flowers April to June. Sometimes found as a form with variegated, cream and green leaves.
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variegated form |