Vinca (Latin: vincire "to bind, fetter") is an Old World genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus (and with the mollusc Littorina littorea). Some Vinca species are cultivated but have also spread invasively. Additionally, some species have medicinal uses.

Description

Vinca plants are subshrubs or herbaceous, and have slender trailing stems 1 – long but not growing more than 20 – above ground; the stems frequently take root where they touch the ground, enabling the plant to spread widely. The leaves are opposite, simple broad lanceolate to ovate, 1 – long and 0.5 – broad; they are evergreen in four species, but deciduous in the herbaceous V. herbacea, which dies back to the root system in winter. The flowers, produced through most of the growing season, are salverform (like those of Phlox), simple, 2.5 – broad, with five usually violet (occasionally white) petals joined together at the base to form a tube. The fruit consists of a pair of divergent follicles; the dry fruit dehisces along one rupture site to release seeds.

Species

Accepted species:

Distribution and habitat

The genus is native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia.

Ecology

Vinca major and Vinca minor may be invasive in some regions where they are introduced species because the rapid spreading chokes out native plant species and alters habitats. Areas affected include parts of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States, especially coastal California.

Cultivation

Vinca major and V. minor are extensively cultivated as a flowering evergreen ornamental plant. Because the plants are low and spread quickly, they are often used as groundcover in garden landscapes and container gardens. They are also traditionally used in older cemeteries as an evergreen maintenance-free ground cover. Many cultivars are available, with different plant, leaf, and flower colors, sizes, and habits.

Medicinal uses

The vinca alkaloids include at least 86 alkaloids extracted from plants in the genus Vinca. The chemotherapy agent vincristine is extracted from a closely related species, Catharanthus roseus, and is used to treat some leukemias, lymphomas, and childhood cancers, as well as several other types of cancer and some non-cancerous conditions. Vinblastine is a chemical analogue of vincristine and is also used to treat various forms of cancer. Dimeric alkaloids such as vincristine and vinblastine are produced by the coupling the smaller indole alkaloids vindoline and catharanthine. In addition, the nootropic agent vincamine is derived from V. minor. Vinorelbine, a newer semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic agent, is used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer and is prepared either from the natural products leurosine or catharanthine and vindoline, in both cases by first preparing anhydrovinblastine.