Catharanthus roseus
| Madagascar rosy periwinkle | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Genus: | Catharanthus |
| Species: | C. roseus |
| Binomial name | |
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Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don, 1837 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle, rosy periwinkle or teresita as it is usually named in the southern part of Mexico, specifically in Champotón, Campeche and Mérida, is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant, a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. Other English names include Vinca, Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid". It was formerly included in the genus Vinca as Vinca rosea.
Two varieties are recognized
It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing 1 m tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm 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 long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad.
In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture. It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world. 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, and also in parts of eastern Queensland.
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Wikipedia