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Catharanthus roseus

(Cooler icy Pink Vinca)

Overview

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Perennial herb or low shrub from West Indies, with white or pink, slenderly tubular flowers; often used as a ground cover.

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Cooler icy Pink Vinca, Cape Periwinkle, Chatas, Chula, Cooler red Vinca, Cooler Apricot Vinca, Cooler Coconut Vinca, Cooler Grape Vinca, Cooler Orchid Vinca, Cooler Peppermint Vinca, Madagascar Periwinkle, Old-Maid, Rose Periwinkle, Rosy Periwinkle, Titan Polka Dot vinca, Vinca

Common Names in French:

Pervenche De Madagascar

Common Names in Hindi:

Sadabahar, सदावहार

Common Names in Portuguese:

Boa-Noite, Boa-Tarde, Lavadeira, Pervinca-Rosa, Vinca-De-Gato, Vinca-De-Madagascar, Vinca-Rósea

Common Names in Spanish:

Chatas, Chula, Pervinca De Madagascar

Description

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Family Apocynaceae

Trees , shrubs , or vines , rarely subshrubs or herbs, with latex or rarely watery juice. Leaves simple , opposite, rarely whorled or alternate, pinnately veined; stipules absent or rarely present. Inflorescences cymose , terminal or axillary , with bracteoles. Flowers bisexual , 5- [or 4]-merous, actinomorphic . Calyx 5- or rarely 4-partite, quincuncial, basal glands usually present. Corolla 5- or rarely 4-lobed, salverform , funnelform , urceolate , or rarely rotate, lobes overlapping to right or left, rarely valvate . Stamens 5 or rarely 4; filaments short; anthers mostly sagittate , free or connivent into a cone adherent to pistil head , dehiscing longitudinally, base rounded , cordate, sagittate, or prolonged into an empty spur; pollen granular ; disc ringlike or cup-shaped, 2-5-lobed, or absent. Ovaries superior, rarely half-inferior, connate or distinct , 1- or 2-locular; ovules (1 or) 2-numerous per locule. Style 1; pistil head capitate, conical , or lampshade-shaped, base stigmatic, apex 2-cleft and not stigmatic . Fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, or follicle. Seeds with or without coma; endosperm thick and often horny , scanty, sometimes absent; embryo straight or nearly so, cotyledons often large, radicle terete .

About 155 genera and 2000 species distributed primarily in the tropics and subtropics, poorly represented in the temperate regions . Of the 44 genera and 145 species present in China, one genus and 38 species are endemic, and nearly 95% of the taxa grow in the southern and southwestern portions of the country.

Fruit type is highly diversified in the family , and it is diagnostic of many genera. Genera 1-4 produce 1, 2-celled berries from a flower; genus 5 produces 2, 1-celled berries from a flower; 6 and 7 produce mostly fleshy follicles containing deeply indented seeds with ruminate endosperm; 8 has follicles and winged seeds; 9 produces follicles and seeds with 2 comas; 10-12 have follicles with globose seeds; 13-18 have drupes mostly with fleshy mesocarp; 19 has samaroid fruit; 20 has spiny capsules with seeds winged all around; and 21-44 have free or fused follicles and comose seeds. Double flowers are known only from cultivated forms of Nerium oleander, Tabernaemontana divaricata, and Wrightia religiosa.

Plants of the Apocynaceae are often poisonous and are rich in alkaloids or glycosides, especially in the seeds and latex. Some species are valuable sources of medicine, insecticides , fibers, and rubber.[1]

Genus Catharanthus

Herbs erect , perennial and often woody at base , juice watery. Leaves opposite; petiole short, intra- and interpetiolar glands present; leaf blade herbaceous to somewhat leathery, entire. Flowers terminal and axillary , solitary or rarely in 2- or 3-flowered cymes. Sepals small, narrowly oblong , awl-shaped , without glands. Corolla purple, red, pink, or white, salverform ; tube glabrous or sparsely puberulent , throat constricted , woolly to velvety ; lobes spreading , obliquely obovate , overlapping to left, apex apiculate . Stamens inserted in widened portion of corolla tube; anthers free , oblong, base obtuse; disc of 2 glands. Ovaries 2; ovules numerous . Style filiform ; pistil head with a cylindric base and reflexed hyaline frill. Follicles 2, cylindric, apex acute. Seeds black, oblong, testa rugose .

Eight species: seven endemic to Madagascar, one restricted to India and Sri Lanka; one species cultivated in China.[2]

Physical Description

Species Catharanthus roseus

Subshrubs or perennial herbs to 1 m tall, erect or decumbent . Young stems puberulent . Leaves obovate or elliptic , 2.5-9 X 1-3.5 cm, herbaceous, apex minutely apiculate ; lateral veins 7-11 pairs. Corolla red to pink or white and then mostly with a pink or less often yellow eye; tube 2.5-3 cm, pilose inside, throat villous ; lobes broadly obovate, 1.2-2 cm. Follicles 2-3.8 cm X ca. 3 mm. Fl. spring-autumn. 2n = 16. [source]

Habit: Upright.

Flowers: Vibrant red flowers cover plants . • Bloom Period: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. • Flower Color: near white, pink, white

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 6-12" tall.

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Use in gardens or pots.

Habitat

Native to Madagascar, cultivated or naturalized in all tropical countries [3].

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space 6-9" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

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Last Revised: 2012-05-01