Flora of New Zealand Series

tropical periwinkle

Erect, hairy, perennial herb. Petiole < 7 mm long; lamina 3.5-6 × 1-2.5 cm, oblong or obovate-oblong, clothed in short hairs above and below, penninerved with prominent yellowish veins and midrib; base cuneate; apex rounded and mucronulate. Pedicels 1-3 mm long. Calyx c. 6 mm long; lobes linear-subulate, densely hairy. Corolla tube 2-2.5 cm long, hairy, ampliate towards apex where stamens are inserted; limb 3-4 cm diam., deep pink with crimson eye in centre, whitish on reverse; lobes ± obovate, rounded apart from apical mucro, glabrous. Anther sacs 4-6× longer than wide, parallel, close together. Nectary disc = or > ovary. Follicles c. 2.5 cm long, hairy; seeds 1.75-2 mm long, black, oblong.

K.: Raoul Id.

Madagascar 1910

Established on a few square metres of sand at the back of the beach in Denham Bay at least since 1908; the population has remained fairly constant between 1966 and 1986.

FL Jan-Dec.

All the plants on Raoul have rose-coloured corollas in contrast to the tropical islands to the north, where a white form commonly occurs as well. The original seed was probably brought to Raoul by Thomas Bell in the late nineteenth century. Mature follicles have not been collected on Raoul. The sp. has previously been known in N.Z. as Vinca rosea and Lochnera rosea.