What's Blooming Now

The name periwinkle has been given to about a dozen flowers and members of a large family of marine snails, but the link between the flowers and snails is only in the meaning of the word. Periwinkle refers to something that winds around, such as the vine-like stems of the plants and the shells of the snail. Both snail and flower periwinkles live on the Gulfshore; you can find them near Periwinkle Way on Sanibel Island, for instance.

The lesser periwinkle, Vinca minor, is sometimes known as common periwinkle, vinca or myrtle-names also used for other plants. The wiry stems of the evergreen lesser periwinkle radiate across the ground and take root at intervals, making it an effective ground cover. A native of Eurasia, it grows six to 10 inches high and naturally produces one-inch-diameter blue flowers, although white and purple cultivated varieties are available. A periwinkle flower has five petals fused at a tubular base, making it look something like a pinwheel. Some cultivated varieties have doubled petals.

A hardy plant that produces flowers most of the year in Southwest Florida, the lesser periwinkle can escape from gardens, and could crowd out native plants. It has been used as an ornamental in the Southeast for at least two centuries, and its presence sometimes helps identify old home sites or cemeteries.

Lesser periwinkle possesses chemicals that make it dangerous if eaten. But these same chemicals are used in medicines that lower blood pressure, and it's possible that chemicals from this plant may be useful in treating diabetes.

-Jerome A. Jackson, Florida Gulf Coast University