Catharanthus

Pink Catharanthe ( Catharanthus roseus)

The Catharanthen ( Catharanthus ), also called periwinkle room, are a genus of the subfamily Rauvolfioideae in the family of the dogbane family ( Apocynaceae ).

Description

Catharanthen are annual or perennial, evergreen herbaceous plants, often woody at the base and branch out to different degrees. The stems are fleshy. The entire, herbaceous to slightly leathery and fringed or studded Drüsenzotten deciduous leaves are opposite and provided with a short and tight top.

The terminal (although apparently they grow laterally ) inflorescences carry one to two radiärsymmetrische, fivefold flowers. The sepals are narrow to very narrow and long awl- shaped and without glandular hairs. The five purple, red, pink or white petals are fused into a tube and their Kronlappen are spread out flat. The corolla tube is hairy, the throat is constricted and hairy woolly. The five Kronlappen are oblique reverse- egg-shaped and finely studded with needle-like outgrowths. The stamens put on at the most above the center located, widest part of the corolla tube, the anthers are at the base oblong blunt. The ovary is composed of two very narrow elongated carpels. The disc consists of two narrow triangular to narrowly oblong glands, affect their approaches to each other on the achsabgewandten side of the carpels. The style is filiform. The fruit is a two-seeded Sammelbalgfrucht, the fruiting body is cylindrical and tapered. The seeds are black and oblong, the surface wrinkled.

Dissemination

Except for a species that is found in India and Sri Lanka, all species are endemic to Madagascar.

System

The genus was first described in 1837 by Don George junior. The genus name means something like " pure-blooded " and refers to the rose -colored flowers. The species of the genus were sometimes made to the genus Vinca or Lochnera. In the scheme of Endress & Bruyns (2000) Catharanthus belongs to the tribe Vinceae, along with genres such as periwinkle (Vinca ) and Kopsia.

A work of Sennblad & Bremer 2002, the Vinceae as monophyletic Represents the following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of Catharanthus according to this source. The affinities of the four genera represented here is well secured.

The genus contains eight species, including

• Pink Catharanthe ( Catharanthus roseus ) is the most familiar type, it is used as an ornamental and medicinal plant.
• Catharanthus ovalis
• Catharanthus pusillus