Vinca Rosea

''Catharanthus roseus'', commonly known as bright eyes, Cape periwinkle, graveyard plant, Madagascar periwinkle, old maid, pink periwinkle, rose periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant. It is a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. It was formerly included in the genus '' Vinca'' as ''Vinca rosea''.

It has many vernacular names among which are ''arivotaombelona'' or ''rivotambelona'', ''tonga'', ''tongatse'' or ''trongatse'', ''tsimatiririnina'', and ''vonenina''.

Synonyms

Two varieties are recognized
* ''Catharanthus roseus'' var. ''roseus''
: Synonymy for this variety
::''Catharanthus roseus'' var. ''angustus'' Steenis ex Bakhuizen f.
:: ''Catharanthus roseus'' var. ''albus'' G.DonG.Don, Gen. Hist. 4(1): 95. 1837.
:: ''Catharanthus roseus'' var. ''occellatus'' G.Don
:: ''Catharanthus roseus'' var. ''nanus'' Markgr.
:: ''Lochnera rosea f. alba'' (G.Don) Woodson
:: ''Lochnera rosea'' var. ''ocellata'' (G.Don) Woodson
* ''Catharanthus roseus var''. ''angustus'' (Steenis) Bakh. f.
: Synonymy for this variety
:: ''Catharanthus roseus'' var. ''nanus'' Markgr.
:: ''Lochnera rosea'' var. ''angusta'' Steenis

Description

''Catharanthus roseus'' is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, long and wide, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers range from white with a yellow or red center to dark pink with a darker red center, with a basal tube long and a corolla diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles long and wide.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .Flora of China
''Catharanthus roseus''
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/ref>Jepson Flora
''Catharanthus roseus''
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Ecology

In the wild, ''C. roseus'' is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture.DrugDigest
''Catharanthus roseus''
It is also, however, widely cultivated and is naturalized in subtropical and tropical areas of the world such as Australia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the United States. It is so well adapted to growth in Australia that it is listed as a noxious weed in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, and also in parts of eastern Queensland.

Cultivation

As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below , and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet, and reddish-orange), and also for tolerance of cooler growing conditions in temperate regions. Notable cultivars include 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Grape Cooler' (rose-pink; cool-tolerant), the Ocellatus Group (various colours), and 'Peppermint Cooler' (white with a red centre; cool-tolerant). In the U.S. it often remains identified as "Vinca" although botanists have shifted its identification and it often can be seen growing along roadsides in the south.

In the United Kingdom it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).

Uses

Traditional

The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine, as it can be traced back to 2600 BC Mesopotamia. In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) the extracts of its roots and shoots, although poisonous, are used against several diseases. In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used against numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the 1950s, vinca alkaloids, including vinblastine and vincristine, were isolated from ''Catharanthus roseus'' while screening for anti-diabetic drugs. This chance discovery led to increased research into the chemotherapeutic effects of vinblastine and vincristine. Conflict between historical indigenous use, and patent from 2001 on ''C. roseus''-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.

Medicinal

Vinblastine and vincristine, chemotherapy medications used to treat several types of cancers, are found in the plant and are biosynthesised from the coupling of the alkaloids catharanthine and vindoline. The newer semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic agent vinorelbine, used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer, can be prepared either from vindoline and catharanthine or from the ''vinca'' alkaloid leurosine, in both cases via anhydrovinblastine. The insulin-stimulating vincoline has been isolated from the plant.

Research

Despite the medical importance and wide use, the desired alkaloids (vinblastine and vincristine) are naturally produced at very low yields. Additionally, it is complex and costly to synthesize the desired products in a lab, resulting in difficulty satisfying the demand and a need for overproduction. Treatment of the plant with phytohormones, such as salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate, have been shown to trigger defense mechanisms and overproduce downstream alkaloids. Studies using this technique vary in growth conditions, choice of phytohormone, and location of treatment. Concurrently, there are various efforts to map the biosynthetic pathway producing the alkaloids to find a direct path to overproduction via genetic engineering.

''C. roseus'' is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas. This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas, and also often has very distinctive symptoms such as phyllody and significantly reduced leaf size.

Biology

Rosinidin is the pink anthocyanidin pigment found in the flowers of ''C. roseus''. Lochnericine is a major alkaloid in roots.

Toxicity

''C. roseus'' can be extremely toxic if consumed orally by humans, and is cited (under its synonym ''Vinca rosea'') in the Louisiana State Act 159. All parts of the plant are poisonous. On consumption, symptoms consist of mild stomach cramps, cardiac complications, hypotension, systematic paralysis eventually leading to death.

According to French botanist Pierre Boiteau, its poisonous properties are made known along generations of Malagasy people as a poison consumed in ordeal trials, even before the tangena fruit was used. This lent the flower one of its names ''vonenina'', from mg, vony enina meaning "flower of remorse".

Gallery

File:Madagascar periwinkle bdl8.jpg, Purple ''Catharanthus roseus''
File:Catharanthus roseus grown in a balcony.jpg, This one was grown in Bangladesh as a ornamental plant in a flower tub in the balcony of a house
File:Madagascar periwinkle bdl2.jpg, Off-white ''Catharanthus roseus''
File:Madagascar periwinkle bdl1.jpg, White ''Catharanthus roseus''
File:Madagascar periwinkle bdl0.jpg, Red ''Catharanthus roseus''
File:Catharanthus roseus Madagascar periwinkle White.JPG, White rosy periwinkle
File:Catharanthus roseus in Kerala.jpeg, Catharanthus roseus in Kerala
File:Madagascar periwinkle bdl.jpg, Purple ''Catharanthus roseus''
File:Vinca Catharanthus roseus in Bangladesh.JPG, ''Vinca'' From a garden at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
File:Rose Periwinkle.jpg, Catharanthus roseus in Ishwardi, Bangladesh
File:Catharanthus roseus flower bud, Burdwan, West Bengal, India 12 09 2012.JPG, Flower bud in West Bengal, India
File:Nithyaklalyani.jpg, Garden Plant in India
File:Nayantara.jpg, Common garden plant in India
File:Catharanthus roseus-1.jpg, Catharanthus roseus in Pakistan
File:Catharanthus roseus Malaysia.jpg, Grown in Malaysia
File:Nithyakalyani India.jpg, Flower plant raised in India temples
File:Catharanthus roseus MHNT.BOT.2005.0962.jpg, Fruits and seeds
File:Matured seeds of Madagascar Periwinkle.jpg, Matured fruits of Madagascar Periwinkle
File:Immature seeds of Madagascar periwinkle.jpg, Immature fruits of Madagascar periwinkle
File:Catharanthus roseus Pacifica Burgundy Halo-Madagascar Periwinkle.JPG, Pacifica Burgundy Halo – Madagascar Periwinkle
File:Catharanthus roseus-Red flowers of Madagascar Periwinkle 2.JPG, Red cultivar of Madagascar Periwinkle
File:Catharanthus Periwinkle.jpg, Potted Plant in New Delhi
File:Pollens of Catharanthus roseus.jpg, Anther

References

External links

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roseus
Endemic flora of Madagascar
Plants used in Ayurveda
Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine
Plants described in 1759