102 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



In the British Isles the plant is not native, but 

 naturalised. It occurs in the south of England and 

 also the north, and in Ireland. It is everywhere 

 naturalised. 



The habitat is woods, copses, plantations, shady 

 banks, hedges, and elsewhere. Sometimes it may be 

 found at a distance from habitations, but usually it 

 grows near dwellings at the base of walls, on banks, etc. 



The Greater Periwinkle has a creeping or nearly 

 erect habit. The rootstock is long and creeping with 

 trailing barren shoots and erect flowering stems, 

 which root at the extremity and are simple. The 

 leaves are broadly ovate, and evergreen, shining, 

 heart-shaped below, fringed with small hairs at the 

 border, thus distinguishing it from the Lesser Peri- 

 winkle. 



The flowers, borne on erect flower stems, are blue 

 or purple, large, the mouth angular, the corolla salver- 

 shaped. The broad tube is narrow at the mouth, 

 closed with hairs. The flowering stems lengthen 

 after flowering. The lobes of the calyx are fringed 

 with hairs, and are as long as the corolla-lobes. The 

 ultimate flower-stalks are shorter than the leaves. 

 The anthers are curved. The plant rarely sets seed. 

 The fruit is a follicle. 



The plant is prostrate and spreads to a distance 



of three to six feet. The flowers are in bloom from 



April till June, and the plant is a herbaceous perennial. 



The flowers secrete honey in two yellow nectaries 



at the base of the ovary, which is concealed. The 



