A low, evergreen, trailing plant with purplish-blue (rarely white) flowers borne singly in leaf axils.

To 1" wide; corolla funnel-shaped, 5-lobed, with a whitish star in center.

1 1/4-2" long, shiny, dark green, opposite.

Paired, short, cylindrical pods, each 1/2-1 1/4" long.

6-8".

April-May.

Woodland borders, roadsides abandoned sites, and cemeteries.

This introduced plant, now escaped from cultivation, frequently forms extensive patches. The Latin word pervinca (from the root "to bind") is the source of both the genus name and the common name Periwinkle. In the Southeast the related Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), with either pink or white flowers, is naturalized.