Rosy Periwinkle
Some Fun Facts About the Rosy Periwinkle
The rosy periwinkle is an herb that has many branches, and is a shrub that is classified as a perennial. It can reach over two feet in height when it matures fully. This plant has leaves shaped like ovals, and they have a very unusual skin – glossy and very unique looking. The herb originally boasted pinkish to white flowers with five-lobed petals. It also has seedpods that are textured, downy and cylindrical.
The rosy periwinkle is also known as the Madagascar periwinkle. Its botanical name is C. roseus, and it has recently generated interest in the medical and scientific communities all over the world. They began looking into the herb in the mid-1950's, when researchers came across the Jamaican folk remedy known as periwinkle tea. In studying the plant, and its positive effects on people with diabetes in Jamaica, the researchers found that many of the properties ascribed to the plant by the natives were well-documented.
Researchers have found that the rosy periwinkle possesses two alkaloids that are effective against cancer, in that they inhibit tumor growth. These alkaloids are named vinblastine and vincristine. Vinblastine has been found to be effective in treating testicular cancer as well as Hodgkin's disease, which is a malignant cancer that affects the lymph nodes of affected people. The second compound, vincristine, has been shown to be effective in battling childhood leukemia. The alkoloids do have side effects, however, similar to those encountered by people undergoing conventional cancer treatment, mainly hair loss and nausea.
The rosy periwinkle also has other medicinal and healing properties, as do the related plants of the dogbane family, and the rauvolfia herb and the lesser periwinkle. Researchers have found over seventy other agents of the alkaloid type in periwinkle, and these are affective in treating high blood sugar and high blood pressure.
The Madagascar periwinkle has been used in different cultures by folk healers, in treating various ailments, with varied degrees of success. Their benefits have been studied and actually confirmed by modern researchers. In Hawaii, folk healers have used the plant boiled and made into an extract to make a topical application for external bleeding. In India, they use the crushed leaves to make juice that is used to treat wasp stings. The rosy periwinkle has been used in South and Central America to make a gargle that helps ease sore throat pain, and upper respiratory problems. In Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Cuba, they sometimes use an extract made from the flowers as an eyewash to clear up eye issues. Most of these folk remedies are still practiced today.
The rosy periwinkle is also an excellent ornamental plant, used in quite a few home gardens, and the original one or two flower colors have been expanded by breeders to include colors from mauve to hit pink, in addition to the natural pinkish and white colors.