Vinca herbacea

Vinca herbacea
Vinca herbacea leaves and flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Genus:	Vinca
Species:	V. herbacea
Binomial name
Vinca herbacea Waldst. & Kit.

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.

Cultivation and uses

It is occasionally grown in temperate gardens as a rock garden plant.

References

• Flora Europaea: Vinca herbacea
• Rock garden plants: Vinca herbacea
• Photo
• Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening 4: 664-665. Macmillan.