Photographs: Bantry, Co. Cork

Intermediate Periwinkle Vinca difformis Family: Apocynaceae Flowering: November-February. Evergreen perennial. Introduced. Pale blue or sometimes pale lilac-mauve flowers with 5 petals and hairless calyx lobes. The evergreen leaves are lanceolate-obvate, opposite and entire with hairless leaf margins. Stems can be ascending/arching or procumbent, to 2m. Similar to Lesser Periwinkle but larger and stronger An occasional garden escape or relic of cultivation on well drained sunny or shady ground on roadsides, banks and in woodland. Similar: Greater Periwinkle has darker flowers, leaf edges with tiny hairs

Intermediate Periwinkle, Vinca difformis