Herbaceous periwinkle

Family Kutrovye. Occurs wild in Crimea and the Caucasus, in Central Europe and Asia Minor.

All vegetative shoots are creeping. Leaves glossy, elliptic, deciduous in winter. Flowers solitary, violet or blue-violet, up to 3 cm in diameter. Flower stalks up to 15 cm high, ascending. Blooms from late May for 25–30 days. Winter-hardy, but in snowless winters it is advisable to cover with conifer boughs to protect the leaves.