160 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
VIMINARIA (from vimen, a twig; alluding to the 
twiggy, leafless branches). Rush Broom. ORD. Legu- 
minose. A monotypic genus. The species is a green- 
-house shrub, with Rush-like stems. It thrives in a 
mixture of loam and peat. Propagation may be effected 
under a bell glass, in April; or by seeds, sown on a 
gentle hotbed. : 
V. denudata (naked) Australian Rush Broom; Victorian 
Swamp Oak. orange-yellow, small, in long, terminal racemes ; 
calyx teeth short, equal; petals on rather long claws; wings 
- shorter than the standard ; stamens free. August. J. alternate, 
mostly reduced to filiform petioles in. to 9in. long, the lower 
ones on luxuriant specimens occasionally bearing at the 
` extremity one to three oval-oblong or lanceolate, herbaceous 
-~ leaflets, Jin. to ljin. long. A. 10ft. to 20ft. (or sometimes low 
` and decumbent). Australia, 1780. (B. M. 1190; P. M. B. xiv. 123.) 
VIMINEOUS. Having long, flexible twigs or 
shoots; e.g, many Osiers. 2 
VINCA (Vinca, or Pervinca, was the old Latin name 
used by Pliny). Periwinkle. Including Catharanthus. 
Orv. Apocynacee. A genus comprising ten broadly- 
distributed species of pretty, stove, greenhouse, or hardy, 
erect, or procumbent herbs or sub-shrubs. Flowers 
rather large, axillary, solitary ; calyx five-parted, without 
glands, the lobes narrow; corolla salver-shaped, the tube 
cylindrical, the five lobes ample; stamens above the middle 
of the tube, included. Leaves opposite. The best-known 
species are here described. V, rosea, which requires 
stove or greenhouse treatment, may readily be propagated 
from cuttings of young shoots, taken off soon after new 
growth is commenced in spring, and inserted: in sandy 
loam, in a close frame. The points should be taken out 
as the young plants become established, to make them 
bushy ; the flowers are borne on the new shoots as they 
lengthen. A compost of fibrous loam and a little decayed 
manure intermixed is well suited to the requirements of 
this species. It is not necessary to propagate every year, 
except for increasing stock: the old plants can be kept 
the winter. The hardy Vincas are excellent 
ig plants for furnishing banks, rockwork, rooteries, 
&c., in wild gardens, pleasure-grounds, and woods. They 
. grow in almost any kind of soil, and spread rapidly 
when once established. Propagated by division: any of 
. the single pieces with roots attached may be dibbled in 
from autumn until early spring. 
V. acutiflora (acute-flowered).* A synonym of V. media. 
V. herbacea (herbaceous). (Z. purplish-blue; corolla eight to 
eleven lines long, bearded in the middle and at the throat. June 
and July. 1. elliptic or lanceolate, somewhat obtuse, lin. long, 
1 the margins revolute and UT ciliated. Stems all fertile, 
. herbaceous, glabrous, declinate, simple. Eastern Europe, 1816. 
-— Hardy. (B. M. 2002; B. R. 301.) 
; * 
Fig. 173. FLOWER OF VINCA MAJOR. 
. major (greater)* Band-plant; Cut-ünger. f. blue-purple: 
calyx lobes ciliated, equalling the corolla tube. ye PELA May, 
l. ovate, or cordate at base, ciliated. Flowerless stems rooting at 
md ZE ZE, a — — a fowo, elongated afterwards. 
n), &c. er in ts parts . mi 
AS. Be than V. minor. See 
V. m. elegantissima, (very elegant).* A form with oliag 
bedutifully margined or blotched with creamy-white. : e 
ends, highly gla 
Sterile stems reclinate ; fertile 
Mediterranean region. Hardy 
$ 
V. minor 
third the len: 
by cuttings of half-ripened shoots, inserted in sand, 
Vinca—continued. 
(lesser).* fl. lin. in diameter; calyx lobes glabrous, one- 
h of the corolla tubes coro Dine porple. April 
and May. J. lin. to Län, long, elliptic-ovate, with glabrous mar- 
gins, on very short petioles. Stems tough ; flowerless ones 1ft. to 
2ft. long, prostrate, rooting ; flowering ones short, erect. Europe 
(Britain) &c. (F. D. 1813; Sy. En. B. 906:) Of this pretty plant 
there are a variegated form, a white-flowered variety, and others 
with double white and double blue flowers. 
Fic. 174. VINCA ROSEA, showing Habit and detached Flowering 
Branchlet. 
V. rosea (rosy).* Madagascar Periwinkle; Old Maid. 9. almost 
sessile; corolla tube lin. long ; throat with a hairy ring over the 
tips of the stamens, and a slighter one at the narrow orifice ; 
lobes white, with a pink eye, sometimes all rose-coloured or white, 
showy, obovate. March to October. I. long, on short petioles. 
South Florida, Tropics, 1758. Plant low, erect, puberulent. 
Greenhouse or stove. See Fig. 174. (B. M. 248.) 
VINCETOXICUM (from vincere, to conquer, and 
towicum, poison; in allusion to supposed antidotal powers). 
ORD. Asclepiadew. A genus comprising about seventy 
species of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, erect or twining, 
perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, inhabiting temperate and 
warm regions, but rarer in the tropies. Flowers usually - 
greenish-yellow or purplish, sometimes nearly black, in 
variable cymes; calyx five-parted; corolla somewhat 
rotate-campanulate, deeply five-cleft; corona affixed to 
the staminal tube, sub-entire, toothed, shortly five to ten- 
lobed or nearly five-parted. Leaves opposite or rarely 
quaternately whorled or alternate. The better-known 
species are here described. All (except V. pilosum) are 
hardy perennials. They were formerly classified under 
Cynanchum (which see for culture). 
V. acutum (acute). fl. white; petals oblong, obtuse. July. — 
l. oblong, ovate-cordate, acute. South Satin, 1596. Tales: 
V. fuscatum (brown-flowered) fi. yellow; corolla bearded; 
umbels simple, July. l ovate. Stems twining at top. h. 2ft. 
to 3ft. South-east Europe, 1817. SYN. Cynanchum minus. 
V. ja um (Japanese). jl. whitish, on slender pedicels; 
corolla segments glabrous; cymes shorter than the leaves, loose- 
flowered. Summer. Z. rounded, shortly acuminate or retuse, 
Gg eegener e mi magno the veins softly puberulous 
and somewhat velvety. Japan. at somewhat twinin, 
(L. & P. F. G. ii., p. 150.) dui ntt ee 
V. medium (intermediate). fi. white; corolla beardless ; pedicels 
hardly longer than the peduncle; umbels often divided. May. 
L broadly ovate, obtuse, or ovate-lanceolate, acute. Stems 
eas at tops. A. 2ft. to 3ft. Eastern Europe, &c. 
+ nigrum (black). fi. brown; corolla bearded ; pedicels hardly ` 
Duae than the peduncles ; br pong n July. l. ovate-lanceo-- 
te, acuminate, finely ciliated on the es, narrower 
those of the next species. twining at top. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 
South Europe, 1596. SYN. Cynanchum nigrum (B. M. 
less; pedicels longer umbels ` 
i May. J. ovate, acuminate, finely ciliated on the ` 
hen young. Stems erect, furnished with a downy line 
on each side. A. lft. to 3ft. Europe, 1596. Cynanchum 
Vincetoxicum. dëng 
V. pilosum (pilose). j. white, hort, erect pedicels ; peduncles 
nearly d eg uf leaves, c Ze dae acere 
