• Family : APOCYNACEAE
  (DOGBANE FAMILY)
• Family (as per The Plant List) : Apocynaceae
• Species : Catharanthus roseus
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don
• Common name : Periwinkle
• Vernacular name : Sadabahar, Nayantara (Hin.); Sadapushpa, Nithyapushpa (Kan.); Nithyakalyaani, Kasarali (Tam.); Billa Ganneru, Nitya kalyani, Nitya sumangali (Tel.); Sada bihari, Ainskati (Ori.); Sadhapushpa (San.)
• Key identification features : A much-branched shrub with smooth grey stem having milky latex. Leaves are shining green, elliptic with narrow base and blunt apex. Flowers are in bunches at branch ends. The corolla has a long slender tube and 5 spreading lobes, white or coloured. Fruit is a pair of slender follicles. Grows on roadside and waste places.
• Habit : Undershrub
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the Year
• Native : Madagascar
• Comments : Widely cultivated in gardens and household, also as an escape in cleared land and degraded forests. Extracts of the plant are medicinal.
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Distribution Locality : Throughout Eastern Ghats
• World Distribution : Madagascar; Naturalized in tropics
• Literature : Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Catharanthus roseus. Downloaded on 29 January 2025.

Description

Field Images