[Vinca rosea L.; Lochnerarosea (L.) Rchb.]
(nat) Madagascar periwinkle, kihapai
Suffrutescent herbs; stems 3-8 dm long, sparsely puberulent. Leaves oblong-elliptic to obovate, 3-5 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm wide, margins entire, apex rounded, sometimes apiculate, base cuneate. Flowers paired; calyx lobes 5-7 mm long; corolla white or rose pink, often with a white, red, or yellow center, the tube 20-30 mm long, the lobes 15-27 mm long. Follicles 1.5-2.5 cm long. Seeds narrowly ellipsoid, 2 mm long, 1 mm in diameter, the surface wrinkled. [2n = 16, 24, 32.] Endemic to Madagascar, now widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas; in Hawaii commonly cultivated (Neal, 1965) and frequently escaping, now naturalized on probably all of the main islands and Midway Atoll, but we have not seen specimens from Kauai or Lanai. Degener (1933a, 1934a) states that it became naturalized before 1888, but since Hillebrand (1888) lists it, presumably it was naturalized prior to 1871.—Plate 10.