Periwinkle

Scientific Names

Vinca major L.
Vinca minor L.
Apocynaceae
Dogbane family

Common Names

V. major:
Great periwinkle
V. minor:
Early-flowering periwinkle
Lesser periwinkle
Running myrtle
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Periwinkle is a prostrate, evergreen, creeping plant; the stem bears opposite, dark green, shiny leaves at the joints. During March and April a pale blue flower grows from each stem joint on a long, hollow stalk.
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Where Found

Grows wild in Great Britain and Europe and is also cultivated there and in the United States. The pale blue or white flowered plants grow in woods and orchards, hedges, but the purple ones only grow in gardens.
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Medicinal Properties

Astringent, sedative, nervine
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Biochemical Information

Vincamine
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Culpeper tells that the legend has it that if the leaves are eaten by a man and a woman together, it will cause love between them and they will stay in love all their lives.

Both V. major and V. minor make good ground cover, very hardy, thrives in shade. One of the best plants to grow beneath trees and other areas where a carpeting effect is desired. The herb is propagated by root divisions and cuttings.

From several plants of the Vinca family is obtained the drug vinblastine sulfate, now being tested in America for the treatment of Hodgkins’ disease.
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Uses

Periwinkle is a remedy for diarrhea, flatulence, indigestion, ulcers in the throat and mouth, diabetes, disorders of the skin and scalp, excessive menstruation and hemorrhage. Chew the herb to help stop bleeding in the mouth, nose, and to help toothache. The tea is used for nervous conditions, hysteria, and convulsions. Improves blood flow in cerebral arteriosclerosis and can be helpful after a stroke; tonic for the cerebral arterioles, reduces high blood pressure, a blood tonic.
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Bibliography

Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

The Magic of Herbs, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974