An evergreen trailing shrub rarely more than 6 in. above the ground, forming in time a dense mat; stems glabrous, wiry. Leaves oval, or slightly obovate, always tapered at the base; 3⁄4 to 2 in. long, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. wide, quite glabrous and of a deep glossy green on both sides. Flowers 1 in. across, bright blue, produced from April until autumn in the leaf-axils of the young growths. Corolla-lobes obovate; calyx glabrous, its lobes about 1⁄8 in. long.
Native of southwest and central Europe, Asia Minor and the Caucasus. Like V. major, it is found apparently wild in England, but is doubtless an escape from cultivation. It is, of course, easily distinguished from that species by the smaller flowers, whose calyx-lobes are shorter and broader, and by the smaller narrow-based leaves.
V. minor makes a neater and closer ground-cover than V. major and is very useful for steep banks, so long as they are not exposed to the hottest sun. In deep shade it will form dense weed-proof mats of indefinite extent, but does not flower much under such conditions. Even in lighter conditions its flowers tend to be concealed by the old foliage, except at the edge of the colony, so some trimming is desirable in early spring, if plants are grown primarily for their flowers. It is an interesting feature of both this species and V. major that the growths produce flowers only in their first year, though they may live and elongate for more than one, eventually reaching the ground and rooting, to give a flowering-shoot the next year. But much of the work of extending the colony is done by horizontal shoots, which may run along the ground for a considerable distance before rooting.
f. alba Dipp. V. minor alba West. – Flowers white. Selected forms are: ‘Bowles’ White’, with rather large flowers, flushed with pink in the bud; and ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, a neat grower with rather smaller flowers and leaves than normal, but the flowers freely borne above the foliage.
cv. ‘Alba Variegata’. – Leaves edged with light yellow. Flowers white.
cv. ‘Argenteo-variegata’. – Leaves shorter, proportionately broader, blotched with white. Flowers blue.
f. atropurpurea (Sw.) Rehd. V. minor atropurpurea Sw.; V. m. flore puniceo Lodd. ex Loud.; V. m. var. punicea Bean; V. m. purpurea Hort. – Flower colour inclining to plum-purple or vinous purple. The clone usually sold as ‘Atropurpurea’ has flowers near to the shade known as Violet Purple, with a curious black sheen when looked at close to. This is scarcely the same as ‘Burgundy’, which has not been seen.
cv. ‘Aureo-variegata’. – Leaves striped and margined with yellow. Flowers blue. ‘Alba Variegata’ is sometimes sold under this name.
cv. ‘Bowles’ Variety’. – Flowers on the small side, but well-shaped and a pure light blue. Some plants sold under this name may be ‘La Grave’.
cv. ‘La Grave’. – Flowers lavender-blue, large; leaves broader than normal. Collected by E. A. Bowles in the 1920s in the churchyard of La Grave in the Dauphine (Stearn, op. cit., p. 52). Also known as ‘Bowles’ Variety’.
Most of the colour variants have double forms in which the stamens have been converted into petaloids.