Vinca minor L.
Vinca minor
Vinca minor, commonly known as lesser periwinkle or dwarf periwinkle, is a trailing subshrub native to central and southern Europe. It spreads along the ground and forms large clonal colonies, occasionally scrambling up to 40 centimeters high. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, glossy dark green with a leathery texture, and measure 2–4.5 cm long and 1–2.5 cm broad. The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils, mainly produced from early spring to mid-summer, and are violet-purple with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a pair of follicles containing numerous seeds.
Details
Gentianales
Apocynaceae
Vinca
Vinca minor contains over 50 alkaloids, including vincamine, reserpine, rescinnamine, akuammicine, majdine, vinerine, ervine, vineridine, tombozine, vincamajine, vincanine, vincanidine, vinburnine, apovincamine, vincaminol, desoxyvincaminol, vincorine, and perivincine.
Vinca minor is used as a groundcover in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage and spring/summer flowers. It is also known for its medicinal properties, with vinpocetine being a semisynthetic derivative alkaloid of vincamine used for purported medicinal purposes. The plant is considered invasive in some areas of the United States due to its ability to form dense mats that displace native plant species.
Early spring to mid-summer, with a few flowers produced into the autumn
Up to 40 centimeters
Violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections)
Central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic states, east to the Caucasus, and also southwestern Asia in Turkey
Info
Pannon Flora Ltd. was founded on December 13, 1999, by Gábor Janik, who retains 95% ownership. Janik holds an MSc in Horticulture from the University of Horticultural Sciences (1986) and an Advanced Professional English Certification from the College of International Trade (1990). The company specializes in bird feed production and export, primarily serving markets in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, alongside cultivating and distributing imported/exported horticultural seeds. It maintains exclusive partnerships with JOEUN Seed (South Korea) and Takii Europe (Japan), a leader in professional seed breeding and production. Pannon Flora collaborates with certification bodies such as NÉBIH (National Food Chain Safety Office), MERT Kontroll, and SGS Hungary to ensure compliance and quality. The company works with approximately 400 Hungarian growers, ranging from small-scale producers (under 5 hectares) to mid-sized farms and large-scale agricultural enterprises. This profile emphasizes agribusiness expertise, technical partnerships, and operational scalability tailored to international client needs.
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