Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: Europe
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A low-growing evergreen vine that spreads as a dense ground cover, bearing small violet-blue five-petaled flowers from spring into early summer. It was widely planted across North America as an ornamental but has naturalized in woodland edges and disturbed areas, often outcompeting native understory plants.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Vinca
Species: Vinca minor