1639

Subshrub; Woody vine
Perennial
Has milky sap (latex)

Non-native: Europe

Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Common, persistent and spreading from cultivation

Look for it in disturbed areas, around old house sites and esp old cemeteries, per Weakley's Flora

To see a detailed map, click here

INVASIVE

This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

• Alabama Invasive Plant Council, 2012
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2006
• Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2013
• SC Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2014
• SC Native Plant Society
• Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009
• US Forest Service Southern Research Station
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2014

 

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Opposite

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Blue-violet
Bisexual
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed salverform corolla
5 stamens

FRUIT:
Summer
Paired follicles

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

• Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control p197
• A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests p076
• Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests p42
• Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p121
• Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p256
• Wildflowers of Tennessee p189
• Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p225
• Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p18
• Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p126

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Vinca minor   FAMILY Apocynaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vinca minor   FAMILY Apocynaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (1968) 156-04-001:
Vinca minor   FAMILY Apocynaceae