Lesser periwinkle
Vinca minor L.
- light
- Any light
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 13 cm
- wide
- 79 cm
Apocynaceae
Also called Running-myrtle, Periwinkle, Common periwinkle, Common Periwinkle, Creeping myrtle
Formerly Pervinca heterophyla, Pervinca procumbens, Pervinca repens, Vinca acutiflora, and 2 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Perennial or subshrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Europe to CaucasusKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Sun or shadeRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Height
- 10 cm to 15 cmRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 0.1–0.5 m; NC State Extension 3–6 in
- Spread
- 58 cm to 99 cmRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 1–1.5 m; NC State Extension 6–18 in
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Flowers
- BlueRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS blue, violet; NC State Extension blue, purple, white
- Coldest it survives
- -27.2 °C (USDA zone 5a)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS -20 °C; NC State Extension -34.4 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Dutch
- Kleine maagdenpalm, kleine maagdenpalm
- German
- Kleines Immergrün
- root
- VINMIN, Վինկա ցածրահասակ, Perfagl fach
- Finnish
- pikkutalvio
- Italian
- Pervinca minore
- French
- Petite pervenche, petite pervenche
- Spanish
- brusela
- Polish
- Barwinek pospolity
- Czech
- brčál menší, barvínek menší
- Swedish
- vintergröna
- Danish
- Liden singrøn
- Russian
- Барвинок малый
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Vinca minor (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.