Catharanthus roseus

Madagascar rosy periwinkle
File:Catharanthus roseus24 08 2012 (1).JPG
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Genus:	Catharanthus
Species:	C. roseus
Binomial name
Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don
Synonyms
Vinca rosea (basionym) Ammocallis rosea Lochnera rosea

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle or rosy periwinkle, is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Other English names occasionally used include Vinca, Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid". It was formerly classified in the Vinca genus as Vinca rosea.

Synonyms

Two varieties are recognized

• Catharanthus roseus var. roseus

Synonymy for this variety

Catharanthus roseus var. angustus Steenis ex Bakhuizen f.

Catharanthus roseus var. albus G.Don

Catharanthus roseus var. occellatus G.Don

Catharanthus roseus var. nanusMarkgr.

Lochnera rosea f. alba (G.Don) Woodson

Lochnera rosea var. ocellata (G.Don) Woodson

• Catharanthus roseus var. angustus (Steenis) Bakh. f.

Synonymy for this variety

Catharanthus roseus var. nanus Markgr.

Lochnera rosea var. angusta Steenis

Description

It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing 1 m tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad.

In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture. It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world. It is so well adapted to growth in Australia, that it is listed as a noxious weed in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, and also in parts of eastern Queensland.

File:Apocynaceae - Catharanthus roseus.JPG

Pale Pink with Red Centre Cultivar

Cultivation and uses

The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine and as an ornamental plant. In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) the extracts of its roots and shoots, though poisonous, is used against several diseases. In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used against numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Many of the vinca alkaloids were first isolated from Catharanthus roseus. The substances vinblastine and vincristine extracted from the plant are used in the treatment of leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

C. roseus can be extremely toxic if consumed orally by humans, and is cited (under its synonym Vinca rosea) in Louisiana State Act 159.

This conflict between historical indigenous use, and recent patents on C.roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.

As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5 °C to 7 °C, and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet and reddish-orange), and also for tolerance of cooler growing conditions in temperate regions. Notable cultivars include 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Grape Cooler' (rose-pink; cool-tolerant), the Ocellatus Group (various colours), and 'Peppermint Cooler' (white with a red centre; cool-tolerant).

C. roseus is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas. This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas, and also often has very distinctive symptoms such as phyllody and significantly reduced leaf size.

Chemical constituents

Rosinidin is an anthocyanidin pigment found in the flowers of C. roseus.

Vincristine, a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancers, is also found in the plant.

Other names

C. roseus is known as "Noyon Tora"(Assamese:নয়নতৰা)in Assamese,"noyontara" (Bengali: নয়নতারা) in Bengali, sadaphuli (Marathi: सदाफुली) in Marathi, "Tapak Dara" in Indonesian, boa-noite ("good night") and maria-sem-vergonha ("shameless maria", name shared with Impatiens and Thunbergia alata) in Portuguese (American), vinca-de-madagáscar, vinca-de-gato ("cats' vinca"), vinca-branca (white vinca), vinca or boa-noite in Portuguese (European), vinca del Cabo, vinca rosa ("pink vinca") or vinca rosada ("roseous vinca") in Spanish, putica ("little whore") in Venezuela and nithyakalyani in Tamil (Tamil: நித்யகல்யாணி பூ).Barmasi in Gujarati. İzmir Güzeli in Turkish ( means Symrna beauty) indicating the city that has the best climate conditions to flourish in Turkey. "Dhafnaki" [in Greek Language Δαφνάκι] in Greece and Cyprus (means little Daphne).

Gallery

• Vinca Catharanthus roseus in Bangladesh.JPG

  Vinca From a garden at Cox's Bazar Bangladesh

• Catharanthus roseus flower bud, Burdwan, West Bengal, India 12 09 2012.JPG

  Flower bud in West Bengal, India.

• Nithyaklalyani.jpg

  Garden Plant in India & Pakistan

• Nayantara.jpg

  Common garden plant in India & Pakistan

• Catharanthus roseus-1.jpg

  Catharanthus roseus in Pakistan

• Catharanthus roseus Malaysia.jpg

  Grown in Malaysia

• Nithyakalyani India.jpg

  Flower plant raised in India Temples

• Catharanthus roseus MHNT.BOT.2005.0962.jpg

  Fruits and seeds

• Catharanthus roseus Madagascar periwinkle White.JPG

  White rosy periwinkle

• Catharanthus roseus Pacifica Burgundy Halo-Madagascar Periwinkle.JPG

  Pacifica Burgundy Halo - Madagascar Periwinkle

• Catharanthus roseus-Red flowers of Madagascar Periwinkle 2.JPG

  Red cultivar of Madagascar Periwinkle

• Catharanthus Periwinkle.jpg

  Potted Plant in New Delhi

• Catharanthus roseus 001.jpg

  Catharanthus roseus

• Catharanthus roseus 02.jpg

  Catharanthus roseus

• Catharanthus roseus (1) 1200.jpg

  Catharanthus roseus

External links

• Catharanthus roseus at the Encyclopedia of Life

• Flora of Madagascar: Catharanthus roseus
• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Catharanthus roseus
• Steenis ex Bakhuizen f., Blumea 6: 384. 1950.
• G.Don, Gen. Hist. 4(1): 95. 1837.
• G.Don Gen. Hist. 4(1): 95. 1837.
• Markgr., Adansonia, ser. 2. 12: 222. 1972.
• Woodson, N. Amer. Fl. 29: 124. 1938.
• Bakh. f.Blumea 6 (2): 384. 1950.
• Markgr. Adansonia, ser. 2. 12: 222. 1972.
• Steenis Trop. Nat. 25: 18. 1936.
• Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
• Flora of China: Catharanthus roseus
• College of Micronesia: Catharanthus roseus
• Jepson Flora: Catharanthus roseus
• DrugDigest: Catharanthus roseus