big periwinkle
(Vinca major L.)

Overview

Appearance

Evergreen to semievergreen vines, some-what woody, trailing or scrambling to 3 ft. (1 m) long and upright to 1 ft. (30 cm).

Foliage

Foliage is opposite, glossy and hairless, some-what thick, with margins slightly rolled under. Leaves are heart-shaped to somewhat triangular to elliptic, 1.5-2.5 in. (4-6 cm) long and 1-1.5 in. (2.5-4 cm) wide, with petioles 0.2-0.4 in. (5-10 mm) long.

Flowers

Violet to blue lavender (to white), with five petals radiating pinwheel-like at right angles from the floral tube. Flowers from 1.5-2 in. (4-5 cm) wide with a 0.6-0.8 in. (1.5-2 cm) long tube. Five sepals long lanceo-late, about 0.4 in. (1 cm), hairy margined. Blooms April to May, then sporadically to September.

Fruit

Slender, cylindrical fruit up to 2 in. (5 cm) long. Splitting when dry to release three to five seeds.

Ecological Threat

Found around old homesites and scattered in open to dense canopied forests. Forms mats and extensive infestations even under forest canopies by vines rooting at nodes. Introduced from Europe in 1700s. Ornamental ground cover, commonly sold and planted by gardeners.

Resources

• A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests - USDA Forest Service
• Element Stewardship Abstract - The Nature Conservancy

Selected Images

Maps

Invasive Listing Sources

• Alabama Invasive Plant Council
• California Invasive Plant Council
• Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council - Category 2
• Indiana Invasive Species Council - Invasive Plant List
• Jil M. Swearingen, Survey of invasive plants occurring on National Park Service lands, 2000-2007
• John Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Survey of TNC Preserves, 1995.
• National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic Exotic Plant Management Team Invasive Plant List
• Native Plant Society of Oregon, 2008
• Non-Native Invasive Plants of Arlington County, Virginia
• Non-Native Invasive Plants of the City of Alexandria, Virginia
• Nonnative Invasive Species in Southern Forest and Grassland Ecosystems
• Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Invasive Plants
• Reichard, Sarah. 1994.  Assessing the potential of invasiveness in woody plants introduced in North America. University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation.
• Rhode Island Natural History Survey
• South Carolina Exotic Pest Plant Council
• Virginia Invasive Plant Species List
• WeedUS - Database of Plants Invading Natural Areas in the United States

References