Vinca Rosea (Sadabahar) — Family Name: Apocynaceae
Botanical Name: Vinca Rosea
Common Name: Periwinkle, Madagascar Periwinkle, Sadabahar
Part Used: Leaves and Roots.
Habitat: Grows throughout India and found as an escape in waste places and sandy tracts.
Uses: Its alkaloids are hypotensive, sedative and have tranquilising properties and are anti cancerous. It helps in relieving muscle pain, depression of central nervous system and wasps stings.
Description
The plants grow one or two feet high and have a glossy, dark green leaves (1-2 inches long) with flowers throughout the summers. The blooms of the natural wild plants are a pale pink with a purple “eye” in their centers. Periwinkle is a desaturated color in the blue-violet family. Its name is derived from the lesser periwinkle or myrtle herb (Vinca minor) which bears flowers of the same color.