Vinca minor 'Variegata'

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

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 Vinca

Herbs with stolons and watery juice. Leaves opposite, entire, short petiolate , intra- and interpetiolar glands present. Flowers solitary or rarely in 2-flowered cymes, axillary . Calyx small, without glands. Corolla violet, funnelform , tube cylindric , hairy or with scales at throat ; lobes obliquely obovate , spreading , shorter than tube, overlapping to left. Stamens inserted just below middle of corolla tube. Disc glands 2, ligulate , alternating with ovaries. Ovules 6-many. Style filiform ; pistil head ringlike, apex densely hairy. Follicles 2, erect or spreading, cylindric, striate . Seeds glabrous .

About five species: W Asia, Europe; two species cultivated in China.[2]

Physical Description

Landscaping

Care: Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system . As a ground cover, space plants 5` apart, (closer for faster coverage). Control weeds with mulch until the plants cover the area.

Biology

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Thrives in either full sun or shade.

Moisture: Water Requirements: Keep surface of soil moist, but not soggy.

Temperature: Heat Zones: High: 9 (>120 to 150 days) Low:1 (< 1 days) (map) • Cold Hardiness: High:9 (20 to 30 F) Low:4 (-30 to -20 F) (map)

Taxonomy

Similar Species

Members of the genus Vinca

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 32 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

V. herbacea (Herbaceous Periwinkle) · V. major (Bigleaf Periwinkle) · V. major 'Maculata' (Greater Perwinkle) · V. major 'Variegata' (Variegata Variegated Greater Periwinkle) · V. minor (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Green Carpet' (Green Carpet Vinca) · V. minor 'Alba' (Alba Flower-Of-Death Vinca Minor) · V. minor 'Alba Variegata' (Alba Variegata Flower-Of-Death Vinca Minor) · V. minor 'Argenteo-Variegata' (Argenteo-Variegata Flower-Of-Death Vinca Minor) · V. minor 'Atropurpurea' (Atropurpurea Flower-Of-Death Vinca Minor) · V. minor 'Azurea Flore Pleno' (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Bowles' (Bowles` Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Bowles Golden' (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Bowles's Purple' (Periwinkle 'bowles's Purple') · V. minor 'Hawaii' (Periwinkle 'hawaii') · V. minor 'Illumination' (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Jekyll' (Jekyll`s White Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'La Grave' (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Multiplex' (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Ralph Shugert' (Common Periwinkle) · V. minor 'Sterling Silver' (Creeping Myrtle) · V. minor 'Variegata' (Variegated Common Periwinkle) · V.'Cooler Coconut' (Coconut Vinca) · V. 'Cooler Grape' (Grape Vinca) · V. 'Cooler Peppermint' (Peppermint Vinca) · V.'Cooler Raspberry Red' (Raspberry Red Vinca) · V. 'Cooler Red' (Red Vinca) · V. 'Nirvana Cascade' (Nirvana Cascade Vinca) · V. 'Nirvana Red' (Nirvana Red Vinca) · V. 'Nirvana White' (Nirvana White Vinca) · V.'Pacifica Dark Red' (Dark Red Vinca) · V.'Victory Cranberry' (Cranberry Vinca)

More Info

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Further Reading

• Tsiang Ying & Li Ping-tao. 1977. Apocynaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 63: 1-249.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Identifiers

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 711048

Footnotes

1. Bingtao Li, Antony J. M. Leeuwenberg & David J. Middleton "Apocynaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 143. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Vinca". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 157. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.