Annuals, Perennials, Tropicals > Catharanthus > Catharanthus roseus > Catharanthus roseus
Catharanthus roseus
Madagascar Periwinkle, Old Maid, Cayenne Jasmine, Rose Periwinkle
Origin: Catharanthus comes from the a combination of Greek word katharos (meaning pure/without blemish), and anthos (which means flower).
| Family |
| Apocynaceae |
| Genus |
| Catharanthus |
| Species |
| roseus |
| Category |
| Annuals, Perennials, Tropicals |
| Synonyms |
| Vinca rosea |
| USDA Hardiness Zone |
| 10 - 11 |
| Canadian Hardiness Zone |
| Requires cool season protection under glass. |
| RHS Hardiness Zone |
| H1c |
| Temperature (°C) |
| 5 - 10 |
| Height |
| 15 - 46 cm |
| Spread |
| 15 - 46 cm |
Photographs
Cultivars
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Awards
Description and Growing Information
Flowering Period
| General Description |
| Catharanthus roseus or Madagascar Periwinkle is a tender perennial with attractive bushy foliage and profuse tubular flowers. |
| Landscape |
| Gravel garden, garden edging, ground cover, and city garden. |
| Cultivation |
| Grow under glass in a loam-based potting compost with full light and good ventilation. Can be grown outside but requires moist, well-drained soil. |
| Shape |
| Short, upright to bushy. |
| Growth |
| Fast |
| Pests |
| Glasshouse red spider mite and glasshouse whitefly may be a problem. |
| Leaf Description |
| 2.5 - 5 cm, elongated with broad, rounded end like a spoon, green, smooth, shiny with a pale midrib. |
| Flower Description |
| Showy, phlox-like, rosy pink to red with mauve throats, five flattened petal-like lobes, appear singly in the upper leaf axils, to 3.75 cm across, tube 2.3 - 3 cm. Cultivar colours include pale pink, hot pink, red, lilac and white. |
| Fruit Description |
| To 3.75 cm. |
| Notable Specimens |
| Chelsea Physic Garden, London, United Kingdom. |
| Propagation |
| By seed planted under glass in late winter / early spring. Germination takes around 15 - 20 days at 21°C . In summer by green-wood or semi-ripe cuttings rooted in a closed case with bottom heat. Pot on young plants singly and grow on at 13 - 16°C n a humid atmosphere. |
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