236 APOCYNE^ 



there are some doubts thrown upon the genuineness of its claim to be re- 

 garded as a native. Except in England and Wales, it appears to have no real 

 claim, and even in those countries Mr. Watson is of opinion that it was 

 originally introduced by man, and has continued to hold its own against the 

 aborigines. It seldom produces seed in this country, and that alone is a 

 suspicious circumstance, though it has been explained as due to the plant's 

 habit of increase by rooting from the joints of its trailing stems. It is very 

 ornamental to such spots as produce it plentifully, as in some woods in the 

 west of England, where it covers a wide extent of ground with its bright 

 glossy leaves. It has blue, and in some specimens white, flowers, which 

 expand from March till June ; and the interior of the flower is worthy of 

 examination. The pistil expands gradually from a slender base to a broad 

 cup, the stigma, more than half the width of the tube. Within the cup is a 

 tuft of hairs which catch the pollen from the anthers. Around the edges of 

 the cup, and coming almost in contact with it are the anthers on short fila- 

 ments and with beards. The space left between the two organs is so slight 

 that only insects with long, thin tongues can reach the two yellow honey- 

 glands at the base of the style. Several species of humble-bees and certain 

 flies do this, and as they press down their tongues these get smeared with 

 adhesive matter from the stigma. When the tongue is withdrawn its sticki- 

 ness picks up pollen from above the stigma, and with this the next floAver is 

 fertilized. The foliage of both this and the next species remains green through 

 the winter ; hence the Germans call these plants Sinngriln. Its juice is acrid, 

 and is so astringent that the plant has been used in tanning. 



2. Greater Periwinkle {V. major). — Stem almost erect; leaves egg- 

 shaped, heart-shaped at the base, their margins fringed; segments of the 

 calyx awl-shaped, and fringed ; perennial. This is a naturalized plant, often 

 found in our woods, and on the margins of streams, though generally near 

 enough to houses to give good reason for believing that it is the outcast of a 

 garden. Its stem, which is much more erect than that of the lesser species, 

 often ascends several feet high, and may be trained so as to twine a little 

 way up pillars or around the Avails of an arbour. Both leaves and blossoms 

 are twice as large as those of the other plant, but the most distinct specific 

 character is found in the fidnged margins of the leaves and calyx of this 

 species. The rich purplish-blue flowers expand in April, and continue in 

 bloom throughout the summer they have a white rim at the base of the 

 limb, and are, as Hurdis says — 



" Pentagonally formed, to mock the skill 

 Of proud geometer." 



The stems of both species are tough and are flexible enough to merit 

 their scientific name from vincio, to bind. The origin of its familiar name is 

 not so obvious as this. The Anglo-Saxons called the plant Fcruince ; in the 

 time of Chaucer it was called Pervenke ; the French still call it Fervenche, and 

 the Italians and Spaniards, Pervinca ; though among the former people it is 

 also commonly called Cenfocchio, or Hundred-eyes, while the Italian peasants, 

 who twine it around the head of the departed infant or young maiden, call 

 it Fior di Morto, Death's-flower. The G-rceks termed the j)lant Daphioides, 



