Vinca major

Greater periwinkle, Greater Periwinkle

Family: Apocynaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Greater periwinkle is a naturalized perennial found in coastal bluffs, stream beds, and sheltered places across northern California coastal regions, central California valleys, and southern California mountain ranges at elevations of 2 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from January to June, this plant produces distinctive purple-blue (occasionally white) flowers 3 to 5 centimeters wide, creating striking visual displays. Growing with sprawling, arching stems that root at their tips, it can form dense ground-covering patches 7 centimeters tall. Its leaves are ovate with truncate bases and acute tips, typically around 7 centimeters long with petioles less than 1 centimeter. Rarely producing curved fruits, the greater periwinkle is primarily known for its ability to spread and naturalize in diverse California landscapes.

Habitat: Coastal bluffs, sheltered places, especially along stream beds

Bloom period: Mar-Jun(Jan)

Elevation: 2-1600 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, n SN, ScV, CCo, SnFrB, s SCoRO, SCo, SnGb, SnBr, PR

California counties: San Diego, Ventura, Santa Clara, Sonoma, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, Butte, Del Norte, Santa Barbara, Placer, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Solano, Contra Costa, Mendocino, San Luis Obispo, Nevada, Napa, El Dorado, Marin, Humboldt, Fresno, Alameda, Siskiyou, Yuba, Sacramento, Merced, Stanislaus, Lake, Yolo, Kern, Tulare, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.