Taxon: Vinca minor L.

Summary

Genus:

Vinca

Family:

Apocynaceae

Subfamily:

Rauvolfioideae

Tribe:

Vinceae

Nomen number:

41680

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 1:209. 1753

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

01/24/2012 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

9 (7 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Links

Forestry Images – Images of invasive weeds from www.forestryimages.org

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Brown, R. G. & M. L. Brown. 1984. Herbaceous plants of Maryland
Campbell, F. T., ed. 1995. Report of National Coalition of Exotic Plant Pest Councils (unpublished draft)
Chester, E. W. et al. 1993-1997. Atlas of Tennessee vascular plants.
Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 194.
Deam, C. C. 1940. Flora of Indiana.
Douglas, G. W. et al., eds. 1999. Illustrated flora of British Columbia.
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Eilers, L. J. & D. M. Roosa. 1994. The vascular plants of Iowa
Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
Farnsworth, N. R. & D. D. Soejarto. 1988. Global importance of medicinal plants (unpublished draft manuscript rev. 23)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, ed. 2
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Harmon, P. J. et al. 2006. Checklist and atlas of the vascular flora of West Virginia.
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
McGregor, R. L. et al. (The Great Plains Flora Association). 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Mohlenbrock, R. H. & D. M. Ladd. 1978. Distribution of Illinois vascular plants
Ohio Flora Committee (E. L. Braun, T. S. Cooperrider, T. R. Fisher, J. J. Furlow). 1967-. The vascular flora of Ohio.
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Reitz, R., ed. 1965-. Flora ilustrada catarinense.
Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
Smith, E. B. 1978. An atlas and annotated list of the vascular plants of Arkansas
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Voss, E. 1972-. Michigan flora.
Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Wetter, M. A. et al. WISFLORA: Wisconsin vascular plant species (on-line resource).
Wherry, E. T. et al. 1979. Atlas of the flora of Pennsylvania.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).
Yatskievych, G. 1999-. Steyermark's Flora of Missouri, revised edition
2018. Mid-Atlantic invasive plant species (on-line resource)

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	common periwinkle			1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English	lesser periwinkle			1	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
English	running-myrtle			1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Chinese	hua ye man chang chun hua	小蔓长春花		2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
English (Canada)	periwinkle		Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada official name	2	Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 194.
French	petite pervenche			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French (Canada)	pervenche mineure		Agriculture & Agroalimentaire Canada nom officiel	2	Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 194.
German	kleines Immergrün			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	pervinca			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	vincapervinca			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	vintergröna			2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Transliterated Russian	barvinok malyj			2	Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Turkey			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Latvia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Lithuania			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Moldova			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation	Kaliningrad		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Ukraine	Krym		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Austria			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Belgium			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Czech Republic			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Germany			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Hungary			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Netherlands			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Poland			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Slovakia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Switzerland			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Bulgaria			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Croatia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Greece			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Italy		incl. Sicily	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Romania			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Serbia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Slovenia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	France		incl. Corsica	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Portugal			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Jiangsu Sheng		Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Australasia	New Zealand	New Zealand			Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Eastern Europe	Estonia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	Ireland			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	Norway			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	Sweden			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	United Kingdom
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Bulgaria			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	New Brunswick		Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Nova Scotia		Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Ontario		Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Québec		Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Illinois		Mohlenbrock, R. H. & D. M. Ladd. 1978. Distribution of Illinois vascular plants
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Iowa		Eilers, L. J. & D. M. Roosa. 1994. The vascular plants of Iowa
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Kansas		McGregor, R. L. et al. (The Great Plains Flora Association). 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Missouri		Yatskievych, G. 1999-. Steyermark's Flora of Missouri, revised edition
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Nebraska		McGregor, R. L. et al. (The Great Plains Flora Association). 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Wisconsin		Wetter, M. A. et al. WISFLORA: Wisconsin vascular plant species (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Connecticut		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Indiana		Deam, C. C. 1940. Flora of Indiana.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maine		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Massachusetts		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Michigan		Voss, E. 1972-. Michigan flora.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Hampshire		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Jersey		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New York		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Ohio		Ohio Flora Committee (E. L. Braun, T. S. Cooperrider, T. R. Fisher, J. J. Furlow). 1967-. The vascular flora of Ohio.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Pennsylvania		Wherry, E. T. et al. 1979. Atlas of the flora of Pennsylvania.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Rhode Island		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Vermont		Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	West Virginia		Harmon, P. J. et al. 2006. Checklist and atlas of the vascular flora of West Virginia.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas		Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida		Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia		Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maryland		Brown, R. G. & M. L. Brown. 1984. Herbaceous plants of Maryland
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	North Carolina		Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Tennessee		Chester, E. W. et al. 1993-1997. Atlas of Tennessee vascular plants.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Virginia		Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	British Columbia	s.w.	Douglas, G. W. et al., eds. 1999. Illustrated flora of British Columbia.

Native
Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Turkey

Europe

MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia
EASTERN EUROPE: Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Russian Federation [Kaliningrad], Ukraine [Krym]
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Italy (incl. Sicily), Romania, Serbia, Slovenia
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France (incl. Corsica), Portugal

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized
Asia-Temperate

CHINA: China [Jiangsu Sheng]

Australasia

NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand

Europe

NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden
EASTERN EUROPE: Estonia
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Bulgaria

Northern America

EASTERN CANADA: Canada [New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec]
WESTERN CANADA: Canada [British Columbia (s.w.)]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia]
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin]
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas]

Reference(s)

Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
Brown, R. G. & M. L. Brown. 1984. Herbaceous plants of Maryland
Chester, E. W. et al. 1993-1997. Atlas of Tennessee vascular plants.
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Deam, C. C. 1940. Flora of Indiana.
Douglas, G. W. et al., eds. 1999. Illustrated flora of British Columbia.
Eilers, L. J. & D. M. Roosa. 1994. The vascular plants of Iowa
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
Harmon, P. J. et al. 2006. Checklist and atlas of the vascular flora of West Virginia.
Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
McGregor, R. L. et al. (The Great Plains Flora Association). 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Mohlenbrock, R. H. & D. M. Ladd. 1978. Distribution of Illinois vascular plants
Ohio Flora Committee (E. L. Braun, T. S. Cooperrider, T. R. Fisher, J. J. Furlow). 1967-. The vascular flora of Ohio.
Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Voss, E. 1972-. Michigan flora.
Wetter, M. A. et al. WISFLORA: Wisconsin vascular plant species (on-line resource).
Wherry, E. T. et al. 1979. Atlas of the flora of Pennsylvania.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).
Yatskievych, G. 1999-. Steyermark's Flora of Missouri, revised edition

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Environmental	ornamental		Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Environmental	ornamental		Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Environmental	ornamental		Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Medicines	source of pharmaceutical agent	vincamine	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	source of pharmaceutical agent	vincamine	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Medicines	source of pharmaceutical agent	vincamine	Farnsworth, N. R. & D. D. Soejarto. 1988. Global importance of medicinal plants (unpublished draft manuscript rev. 23)
Weed	seed contaminant	potential	Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Weed	seed contaminant	potential	Campbell, F. T., ed. 1995. Report of National Coalition of Exotic Plant Pest Councils (unpublished draft)

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=41680. Accessed 15 April 2026.