Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Bigleaf Periwinkle - Vinca major   L.
Members of Apocynaceae:
Members of Vinca with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Gentianales » Family Apocynaceae
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AuthorL.
DistributionScattered across most of the state. Several collections are from college campuses, and it is not always clear if escaped from cultivation or merely persisting. Specimens of definitely cultivated plants were collected from Ashe, Cabarrus, Lee, Orange, and Randolph counties. First collected in NC in West Raleigh (Wake County) in 1901.

Native of Europe; in N.A. throughout most of the U.S. except the northern Plains states and most Rocky Mountain states.
AbundanceRare to uncommon as escapes, although commonly planted in yards and borders.
HabitatRoadsides, campus weed, disturbed woodlands, fence row, abandoned lot roadsdie dirt piles.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting March-May.
IdentificationBigleaf Periwinkle is a trailing herb, usually forming patches. The leaves are opposite, ovate, and deciduous or semi-evergreen; in some cultivars the leaves are mottled or variegated with cream color. The leaves are much broader than those of Common Periwinkle (V. minor), which commonly escapes. Flowers are just like Common Periwinkle, but larger -- lavender to blue-violet in color.
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State RankSE
Global RankGNR
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B.A. SorrieRoadside, Whispering Pines, March 2017. MoorePhoto_non_natural
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