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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Vinca minor''
| image = Vinca minor.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Vinca minor'' plant
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Gentianales]]
| familia = [[Apocynaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Vinca]]''
| species = '''''V. minor'''''
| binomial = ''Vinca minor''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''''Vinca minor''''' ('''Lesser Periwinkle''') is a [[plant]] native to central and southern [[Europe]], from [[Portugal]] and [[France]] north to the [[Netherlands]] and the [[Baltic countries|Baltic States]], and east to the [[Caucasus]], and also in southwestern [[Asia]] in [[Turkey]].
[[Image:Vinca major-minor margins.jpg|left|thumb|Leaf margins for comparison; ''[[Vinca minor]]'' above, ''[[Vinca major]]'' below; note hairless margin of ''V. minor'', hairy margin of ''V. major''.]]
It is a trailing [[subshrub]], spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form large [[clonal colony|clonal colonies]] and occasionally scrambling up to 40 cm high but never twining or climbing. The [[leaf|leaves]] are [[evergreen]], opposite, 2-4.5 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire margin. The [[flower]]s are solitary in the leaf axils and are produced mainly from early spring to mid summer but with a few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections), 2-3 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The [[fruit]] is a pair of [[follicle (fruit)|follicles]] 2.5 cm long, containing numerous seeds.
The closely related species ''[[Vinca major]]'' is similar but larger in all parts, and also has relatively broader leaves with a hairy margin.
===Cultivation and uses===
[[Image:Vinca minor patch MN 2007.JPG|thumb|Ground cover with dense growth]]
The species is commonly grown as a [[groundcover]] in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. The species has few pests or diseases outside it native range and is widely [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] and classified as an [[invasive species]] in parts of [[North America]] [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIMI2]. There are numerous [[cultivar]]s, with different flower colours and [[variegation|variegated]] foliage, including 'Argenteovariegata' (white leaf edges), 'Aureovariegata' (yellow leaf edges), 'Gertrude Jekyll' (white flowers), and 'Plena' (double flowers).
Other vernacular names used in cultivation include '''Small Periwinkle''', '''Common Periwinkle''', and sometimes in the [[United States]], '''Myrtle''' or '''Creeping Myrtle''' (as a result of confusion with the unrelated [[myrtle]]s [http://www2.eugeneweekly.com/2003/091103culture.html]).
*[[Ethnomedical]]ly, the dried leaves, aerial parts, and in some cases the entire plant of ''Vinca'', are used to enhance blood [[circulation]], including that of the [[brain]], enhance [[metabolism]] in the brain, and to treat [[cardiovascular]] disorders.
[[Vincamine]] is the [[pharmaceutical]] molecule responsible for ''Vinca's'' [[nootropic]] activity.
==References==
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Vinca&SPECIES_XREF=minor&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Vinca minor'' distribution]
*[http://www.vc.ehu.es/plfarm/47.vimi.htm Morphology and ecology of ''Vinca minor''] (in Spanish)
*[http://www.borealforest.org/world/herbs_shrubs/lesser_periwinkle.htm Borealforest: ''Vinca minor'']
*[http://hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/description/vi_minor.html ''Vinca minor''] (from Ohio State University's [http://hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/index.html Pocket Gardener])
*[http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3081 Common Periwinkle] (as an invasive species; includes photos)
*Blamey, M., & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. Hodder & Stoughton.
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' 4: 665. Macmillan.
==External links==
*[http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/botany/perihist.html Traditional Medicine Uses]
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Vinca minor''
| image = Vinca minor.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Vinca minor'' plant
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Gentianales]]
| familia = [[Apocynaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Vinca]]''
| species = '''''V. minor'''''
| binomial = ''Vinca minor''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''''Vinca minor''''' ('''Lesser Periwinkle''') is a [[plant]] native to central and southern [[Europe]], from [[Portugal]] and [[France]] north to the [[Netherlands]] and the [[Baltic countries|Baltic States]], and east to the [[Caucasus]], and also in southwestern [[Asia]] in [[Turkey]].
[[Image:Vinca major-minor margins.jpg|left|thumb|Leaf margins for comparison; ''[[Vinca minor]]'' above, ''[[Vinca major]]'' below; note hairless margin of ''V. minor'', hairy margin of ''V. major''.]]
It is a trailing [[subshrub]], spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form large [[clonal colony|clonal colonies]] and occasionally scrambling up to 40 cm high but never twining or climbing. The [[leaf|leaves]] are [[evergreen]], opposite, 2-4.5 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire margin. The [[flower]]s are solitary in the leaf axils and are produced mainly from early spring to mid summer but with a few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections), 2-3 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The [[fruit]] is a pair of [[follicle (fruit)|follicles]] 2.5 cm long, containing numerous seeds.
The closely related species ''[[Vinca major]]'' is similar but larger in all parts, and also has relatively broader leaves with a hairy margin.
===Cultivation and uses===
[[Image:Vinca minor patch MN 2007.JPG|thumb|Ground cover with dense growth]]
The species is commonly grown as a [[groundcover]] in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. The species has few pests or diseases outside it native range and is widely [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] and classified as an [[invasive species]] in parts of [[North America]] [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIMI2]. There are numerous [[cultivar]]s, with different flower colours and [[variegation|variegated]] foliage, including 'Argenteovariegata' (white leaf edges), 'Aureovariegata' (yellow leaf edges), 'Gertrude Jekyll' (white flowers), and 'Plena' (double flowers).
Other vernacular names used in cultivation include '''Small Periwinkle''', '''Common Periwinkle''', and sometimes in the [[United States]], '''Myrtle''' or '''Creeping Myrtle''' (as a result of confusion with the unrelated [[myrtle]]s [http://www2.eugeneweekly.com/2003/091103culture.html]).
*[[Ethnomedical]]ly, the dried leaves, aerial parts, and in some cases the entire plant of ''Vinca'', are used to enhance blood [[circulation]], including that of the [[brain]], enhance [[metabolism]] in the brain, and to treat [[cardiovascular]] disorders.
[[Vincamine]] is the [[pharmaceutical]] molecule responsible for ''Vinca's'' [[nootropic]] activity.
==References==
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Vinca&SPECIES_XREF=minor&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Vinca minor'' distribution]
*[http://www.vc.ehu.es/plfarm/47.vimi.htm Morphology and ecology of ''Vinca minor''] (in Spanish)
*[http://www.borealforest.org/world/herbs_shrubs/lesser_periwinkle.htm Borealforest: ''Vinca minor'']
*[http://hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/description/vi_minor.html ''Vinca minor''] (from Ohio State University's [http://hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/index.html Pocket Gardener])
*[http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3081 Common Periwinkle] (as an invasive species; includes photos)
*Blamey, M., & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. Hodder & Stoughton.
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' 4: 665. Macmillan.
==External links==
*[http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/botany/perihist.html Traditional Medicine Uses]
