1. Vinca major Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 209. 1753.
[I W]
Greater periwinkle
Stems ascending and trailing. Leaves: petiole 5–15 mm, glabrous or pubescent, with 2 small glandular appendages in distal half; blade ovate to broadly ovate or lanceolate, 2.5–9 × 2–6 cm (distals), membranous, base cordate or truncate, margins ciliate, apex obtuse to acute, adaxial surface usually pubescent. Peduncles 1.5–4 cm, glabrous. Flowers: calyx lobes linear, 7–15 mm, ciliate; corolla blue-purple, rarely violet or white, glabrous abaxially, eglandular-pubescent adaxially, tube 4–5 × 3–4 mm, throat 8–12 × 4–9 mm, lobes spreading, obliquely dolabriform, 15–20 × (3–)10–20 mm. Follicles 25–50 × 2–3 mm. Seeds 7–10 × 2–2.6 mm. 2n = 92.
Flowering spring (or year-round in the southern United States); fruiting summer. Open woodlands, stream and woodland margins, old home sites, other shaded disturbed areas; 0–1900 m; introduced; B.C.; Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Va., Wash., Wis.; s Europe.
Vinca major has been widely introduced as an ornamental and commonly spreads from cultivation.
