Bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca major)

Common Names: Large periwinkle, greater periwinkle, big periwinkle, blue periwinkle

Description:

Bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca major) is a trailing evergreen groundcover from southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and northern Africa that has long been planted in North American gardens [1][2]. It escapes from yards into woods and streamsides, where its stems root as they spread and form dense mats that smother native wildflowers and block tree and shrub seedlings [2][3]. MISIN tracks it because those mats can blanket a forest floor and are slow, stubborn work to remove once established [2][3].

Habit:

Bigleaf periwinkle is a low, trailing evergreen plant with glossy, dark green leaves and showy blue-violet flowers [2][4]. Its stems creep along the ground and root where they touch, so it spreads into a continuous green carpet rather than standing upright; the flowering shoots rise only about a foot high [2]. Because it stays green all year, it is easiest to spot from late fall through early spring, when it shows up as a glossy green mat on an otherwise bare forest floor [2]. It blooms most heavily in spring, with scattered flowers into autumn [4]. The paired, oval leaves have fine hairs along their edges ? a detail that helps separate it from its smaller cousin, common periwinkle [4].

At-a-glance cues:

1. Trailing evergreen stems that root where they touch the ground, forming a dense mat [2]
2. Glossy, dark green, paired oval leaves with fine hairs along the edges [4]
3. Blue-violet, five-lobed pinwheel flowers about 1 to 2 inches across, mainly in spring [2][4]
4. Broken stems ooze a milky sap [4]

Leaves:

1. Arrangement: opposite (paired along the stem) [4]
2. Shape: oval, broadest below the middle, with a rounded to slightly heart-shaped base [4]
3. Size: about 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7 cm) long [4]
4. Margin: smooth-edged but lined with fine hairs (ciliate) [4]
5. Surface: glossy dark green, leathery, and evergreen [2][4]

Stems:

1. Habit: trailing evergreen groundcover; stems become somewhat woody at the base [2]
2. Trailing runners (stolons) up to about 3 feet (1 m) long that root where they touch the ground [2]
3. Flowering shoots stand only about 1 foot (30 cm) high [2]
4. Broken stems ooze a milky sap [4]

Flowers:

1. Color: blue to violet, rarely white [2][4]
2. Shape: five lobes spread like a pinwheel, about 1 to 2 inches (3 to 5 cm) across [2][4]
3. Arrangement: single flowers in the leaf axils [4]
4. Bloom time: mainly spring, with scattered flowers into autumn [4]

Fruit and seeds:

1. Fruit: slender, cylindrical pods (follicles) up to about 2 inches (5 cm) long [2]
2. Each pod splits to release 3 to 5 seeds, with no tufts or wings to help them travel [2]
3. In North America it rarely sets seed and almost never spreads this way; seedlings are seldom seen [2]

Habitat:

Bigleaf periwinkle is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean east to the Caucasus, and to northern Africa [1]. In North America it is a planted groundcover that has escaped across much of the country, from the Northeast south to Georgia and west to California and Washington [2][5]. It favors moist, shady ground but tolerates deep shade and poor soils, so it turns up in forest understories, along streams and rivers, around old homesites and cemeteries, and along roadsides [2][3]. A patch often marks where a house or garden once stood [2].

Reproduction:

Bigleaf periwinkle spreads almost entirely by its trailing stems rather than by seed [2]. Each runner roots where it touches the soil, so a patch creeps steadily outward and a single plant can blanket a large area over a few years [2]. It usually reaches new places through people: it is planted as a groundcover and escapes from gardens, and pieces of stem dumped with yard waste or washed downstream during high water can take root and start fresh patches [3]. Even a small piece of rooted stem left behind can regrow [2][3].

In North America it rarely produces seed, so slowing its spread is mostly about removing and containing the trailing stems [2]. For control timing: because it stays green year-round, you can find and pull it in any season, but tackling a patch before it flowers in spring helps keep it from creeping wider through the growing season [2].

Impact and Damage:

Bigleaf periwinkle is sold as an easy groundcover, but it does not stay put. Its runners creep into beds, lawns, and past the property line, and the dense mat crowds out other plantings [2][3].

In natural areas it is a bigger problem. It forms thick evergreen mats on the forest floor that block light and smother native wildflowers and groundcovers, and it keeps tree and shrub seedlings from establishing, which over time can change how a woodland regrows [2][3]. Along streams and rivers it can take over the understory and affect streambank vegetation [3]. Because it greens up and shades the ground even in winter, it holds space that native spring wildflowers need [2].

Similar species:

Common periwinkle (Vinca minor) is the species most often confused with bigleaf periwinkle. Both are trailing evergreen groundcovers with glossy, paired leaves and blue-violet pinwheel flowers. Common periwinkle is smaller in every way: its leaves are smaller and thicker and lack the fine hairs along the edges, and its flowers are smaller too [2][4].

Monitoring and rapid response:

Signs to watch for:

1. A spreading mat of glossy evergreen leaves on the ground, especially noticeable in fall and winter [2]
2. Blue-violet pinwheel flowers in spring [2][4]
3. Trailing stems rooting into the soil, often near old homesites, gardens, or streambanks [2][3]

What you can do:

1. For a small patch, pull or dig up the whole plant when the soil is moist ? trace and lift the runners and remove the rooted nodes so nothing is left to resprout [2]
2. Rake up the trailing stems and cut or mow, then come back to pull the regrowth; repeat over more than one season, since stem pieces resprout [2]
3. Smother a patch by covering it with cardboard, heavy mulch, or plastic sheeting through the growing season to block all light [2]
4. Bag and trash every stem and root ? do not compost it or dump yard waste in natural areas, since fragments start new patches [3]
5. Natural area crews can clear outlying patches first and work back toward the source, with repeat visits to catch regrowth from missed fragments [2]

When to call a professional:

1. Large, well-established mats that keep regrowing from fragments after repeated removal [2]
2. Infestations along streambanks or in sensitive natural areas where ground disturbance must be limited [3]
3. For chemical control options, contact a licensed applicator or your local cooperative extension office.

Report sightings to MISIN. Help track this species' spread by submitting observations through the MISIN web site or the MISIN mobile app (Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS). Photos at multiple angles paired with a precise GPS location are the most valuable data for confirming new occurrences and triggering rapid-response review.

Credits:

1. Plants of the World Online (POWO), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Vinca major L. powo.science.kew.org
2. Fryer JL (compiler). Vinca major, V. minor. Fire Effects Information System (FEIS), USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. fs.usda.gov
3. IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. Vinca major, Global Invasive Species Database. iucngisd.org
4. NC State Extension. Vinca major (Plant Toolbox). plants.ces.ncsu.edu
5. USDA NRCS PLANTS Database. Vinca major L. plants.usda.gov

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