Rose periwinkle

Catharanthus roseus (family Apocynaceae).
These flowers are quite pretty when they open fully as the petals lie “flat”; that is, in a single plane. Hmm. Now that I think about what the open blooms look like, how do they reproduce, Dan?

“Periwinkle had a role against diabetes in folk medicine which has not been substantiated scientifically. However, investigation of this aspect of periwinkle yielded unanticipated uses against cancer. Alkaloids (a class of chemical compounds occurring in diverse plants) from it are used in modern treatment of Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia in children, and other types of cancer. This species demonstrates that chance discoveries from plants remain useful to medicine” — from a photo taken at the Missouri Botanical Garden, 1989: http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Apocynaceae_Catharanthus_roseus_7782.html

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Catharanthus_roseus&rank=binomial

I was kind of excited today to get a photo posted to PhytoImages. See a 365 post — http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-09-10 — then this image at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Cannaceae_Canna_edulis_63971.html

[After having only a single frame to post yesterday, it was hard to choose today. Explanation: the Greenhouse was open today!]

Taken in SIUC’s PLB Greenhouse, http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/facilities/plant-biology-facilities/greenhouse/index.php

One year ago (“Blades of green…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-03-13
Two years ago (“Proof of Life [to come]!” also daffodil!): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-03-13

13th March 2013 13th Mar 13