If you want an informative label on your plant you can do a lot worse than go to Kew gardens. This fulsome label informs and educates the visitor about the periwinkle or dogbane that is currently in flower. Catheransus roseus or Madagascar Periwinkle’s alkaloids have contributed to 70 different drug formulations from this one plant species.

Below is the more normal horticultural label for the same plant. The family name is top right – Apocynaceae or dogbane is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas. often found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics. Some are perennial herbs from temperate zones and many have milky sap that make them poisonous if ingested. Vinca major and minor are part of this family.