190 COROLLIFLOR^ 



Natural Order LI 

 APOCYNACEiE. Periwinkle Tribe 



Calyx deeply 5-cleft, not falling off ; corolla regular, 5-lobed, the 

 lobes twisted when in bud, and when expanded having the sides of 

 the margin unequally curved ; stamens 5, inserted in the tube of 

 the corolla ; anthers distinctly 2-celled ; pollen large ; ovary 2- 

 celled, or double ; pistil resembling the shaft of a pillar, with a 

 double capital ; fruit various. Trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants, 

 with showy flowers, remarkable for the twisted lobes of the corolla 

 when in bud, and yet more so for the symmetrical pistil. Many of 

 them abound in a milky juice, and a large portion are poisonous. 

 Tanghinia venenifera is one of the most deadly of known vegetable 

 poisons, a single seed, though not larger than an almond, being 

 sufficient to destroy twenty people. (For an account of the horrible 

 use to which it was formerly applied in Madagascar, see Wonders of 

 the Vegetable Kingdom.) The beautiful Oleander (Nerium Oleander), 

 a common greenhouse shrub, is also a formidable poison, the pow- 

 dered wood of which is used to destroy rats. In 1809, when the 

 French troops were lying before Madrid, some of the soldiers went 

 out marauding, every one bringing back such provisions as could 

 be found. One soldier formed the unfortunate idea of cutting the 

 branches of the Oleander for spits and skewers for the meat when 

 roasting. This tree, it may be observed, is very common in Spain 

 where it attains considerable dimensions. The wood having been 

 stripped of its bark, and brought in contact with the meat, was pro- 

 ductive of most direful consequences ; for of twelve soldiers who 

 ate of the roast "seven died, and the other five were dangerously ill. 

 Some species, in which the characteristic properties are moderated, 

 are, however, used as medicines. Several species furnish caout- 

 chouc, or India-rubber, of good quality. The only genus repre- 

 sented among British plants is Vinca, which has astringent and 

 acrid properties. 



1. Vinca (Periwinkle). Corolla salver-shaped, with 5 angles at 

 the mouth of the tube, 3-lobed, the lobes oblique ; fruit consisting 

 of 2 erect, horn-like capsules, which do not burst. (Name from the 

 Latin, vincio, to bind, from the cord-like stems.) 



Vinca (Periwinkle) 



1. V. major (Greater Periwinkle). Stem nearly erect ; leaver 

 egg-shaped, with the margins minutely fringed. A handsome 

 plant, with large deep green leaves, which are smooth, except at 

 the margins, and large purplish blue flowers, the mouth of which 

 is angular, and the tube closed with hairs and the curiously curved 



