• Family : APOCYNACEAE
  (Dogbane Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : KARONDA FAMILY (करौंदा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : APOCYNACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don
• Common name : Periwinkle, Rose periwinkle
• Vernacular name : Sadabahar, Nayantara (Hindi); Sadapushpa, Nithyapushpa (Kannada); Nithyakalyani, Kasarali (Tamil); Billa Ganneru, Nitya kalyani, Nitya sumangali (Telugu); Sada bihari, Ainskati (Oria); Sadhapushpa (Sanskrit); Aadam-howa-chedi, Anchitahal thetti, Banappoovu, Kasithetty, Kuppavela, Nithyakallyani, Savakottappacha (Malayalam)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Comments / notes : Widely cultivated in gardens and households, also as an escape in cleared lands and degraded forests
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Distribution :
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Tamil Nadu : Dindigul district
• Native : Madagascar
• World Distribution : Naturalized in tropics
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Catharanthus roseus. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)