Vinca major, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1972, Flora Europaea. Volume 3. Diapensiacea to Myoporaceae, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press : 69

5. V. major L. , Sp. Pl. 209 (1753) .

Stems up to 100 cm, ascending in the lower part, then arching or procumbent, overwintering. Leaves 2-5-9 x 2-6 cm, mostly ovate or broadly ovate (rarely lanceolate), evergreen, the margins ciliate with hairs 0-1-1 mm. Flowering stems up to 30 cm; pedicels shorter than the subtending leaves. Calyx-lobes 7-17 mm, very narrowly triangular, the margins densely ciliate with hairs 0-5-1 mm. Corolla-tube 12-15 mm; limb 30-50 mm in diameter, usually bluish-purple; lobes obliquely truncate. 2« = 92. W. & C. Mediterranean region; frequently naturalized elsewhere. Ga Hs ItJuSi [AuBrBuCoCrGrHbHeLuRs (W, K)].

Cultivated for many centuries and widely naturalized.

Records from Europe of subsp. hirsuta (Boiss.) Stearn , Jour. Bot. (London) 70: 27 (1932), a native of the Caucasus and Anatolia, are referable to variants of 5 with lanceolate leaves and narrower, more pointed, violet corolla-lobes.