Catharanthus roseus

Two varieties are recognized

• Catharanthus roseus var. roseus

Synonymy for this variety

Catharanthus roseus var. angustus Steenis ex Bakhuizen f.[3]

Catharanthus roseus var. albus G.Don[4]

Catharanthus roseus var. occellatus G.Don[4]

Catharanthus roseus var. nanus Markgr.[5]

Lochnera rosea f. alba (G.Don) Woodson[6]

Lochnera rosea var. ocellata (G.Don) Woodson

• Catharanthus roseus var. angustus (Steenis) Bakh. f.[7]

Synonymy for this variety

Catharanthus roseus var. nanus Markgr.[8]

Lochnera rosea var. angusta Steenis[9]

Catharanthus roseus is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing 1 m (39 in) tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm (1.0–3.5 in) long and 1–3.5 cm (0.4–1.4 in) broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm (0.4–0.7 in) long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm (1.0–1.2 in) long and a corolla 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) long and 3 mm (0.1 in) broad.[10][11][12][13]

In the wild, C. roseus is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture.[14] It is also, however, widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world like Australia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.[10] It is so well adapted to growth in Australia, that it is listed as a noxious weed in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory,[15] and also in parts of eastern Queensland.[16]

Pale Pink with Red Centre Cultivar

As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5–7 °C (41–45 °F), and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet and reddish-orange), and also for tolerance of cooler growing conditions in temperate regions. Notable cultivars include 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Grape Cooler' (rose-pink; cool-tolerant), the Ocellatus Group (various colours), and 'Peppermint Cooler' (white with a red centre; cool-tolerant).[10] In the USA it often remains identified as "Vinca" although botanists have shifted its identification and it often can be seen growing along roadsides in the south.

In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit[17] (confirmed 2017).[18]

The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine. In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) the extracts of its roots and shoots, though poisonous, are used against several diseases. In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used against numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin's lymphoma.[11] Many of the vinca alkaloids were first isolated from Catharanthus roseus,[19] including vinblastine and vincristine used in the treatment of leukemia[14] and Hodgkin's lymphoma.[11]

A periwinkle shrub

Coming in different colours

This conflict between historical indigenous use, and recent patents on C.roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.[20]

C. roseus can be extremely toxic if consumed orally by humans, and is cited (under its synonym Vinca rosea) in the Louisiana State Act 159.

C. roseus is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas.[21] This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas, and also often has very distinctive symptoms such as phyllody and significantly reduced leaf size.[22]

Vinblastine and vincristine , chemotherapy medications used to treat several types of cancers, are found in the plant[23][24][25][26] and are biosynthesised from the coupling of the alkaloids catharanthine and vindoline.[27] The newer semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic agent vinorelbine, used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer,[25][28] can be prepared either from vindoline and catharanthine[25][29] or from the vinca alkaloid leurosine,[30] in both cases via anhydrovinblastine.[29] The insulin-stimulating vincoline has been isolated from the plant.[31][32]

Rosinidin is the pink anthocyanidin pigment found in the flowers of C. roseus.[33] Lochnericine is a major alkaloid in roots.[34]

• 
  This one was grown in Bangladesh as a ornamental plant in a flower tub in the balcony of a house
• 
  Catharanthus roseus in Kerala
• 
  Vinca From a garden at Cox's Bazar Bangladesh
• 
  Flower bud in West Bengal, India.
• 
  Garden Plant in India
• 
  Common garden plant in India
• 
  Catharanthus roseus in Pakistan
• 
  Grown in Malaysia
• 
  Flower plant raised in India Temples
• 
  Fruits and seeds
• 
  White rosy periwinkle
• 
  Matured seeds of Madagascar Periwinkle
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  Immature seeds of Madagascar periwinkle
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  Pacifica Burgundy Halo – Madagascar Periwinkle
• 
  Red cultivar of Madagascar Periwinkle
• 
  Potted Plant in New Delhi
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  Catharanthus roseus
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  Catharanthus roseus
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  Catharanthus roseus
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  Pollen

• Media related to Catharanthus roseus at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Catharanthus roseus at Wikispecies