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Apocynaceae
Madagascar Periwinkle
Catharanthus roseus
Memory, recollection, hope, healing.
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Genus
- Catharanthus
- Native to
- Madagascar
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Type
- tender perennial (often grown as annual)
- Height
- 20–60 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Well-drained, average
- Water
- Low to moderate; drought tolerant
- Hardiness
- 9–11
- Lifespan
- Perennial in warm climates
Did you know
- Madagascar periwinkle is one of the most medically important plants in the world — it's the source of vinblastine and vincristine, alkaloids used to treat childhood leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma.
- Vincristine treatment has raised the survival rate for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia from 10% in the 1960s to over 90% today.
- Despite its medicinal importance, the plant is endangered in its native Madagascar due to habitat destruction.
- The species is now grown commercially worldwide for both ornamental purposes and pharmaceutical extraction.
- Around 800 kg of dried leaves are needed to extract just 1 gram of vincristine, making it one of the most expensive plant-derived medicines.