VIXCA 



VIN'CETOXICUM 



3471 



rainy weather. It is propagated by division or by cut- 

 tings, as seeds very rarely mature. The periwinkle 

 will live in city yards under trees where grass will not 

 thrive. V. minor is the commonest and perhaps most 

 variable species. Varieties with white, purple, and 

 double flowers are kept in most nurseries, as also a form 

 with variegated foliage. V. major is larger in all its 

 parts than the common periwinkle and not so hardy. It 

 is well known to florists. A variegated form of it is 

 seen in nearly every veranda-box in the country. V. 

 rosea is a tender plant of erect habit which is used 

 chiefly for summer bedding. It grows about a foot high 

 and has rosy purple or white flowers with or without 

 a reddish eye, and often 2 inches across. The plants 

 bloom continuously from the time they are set out until 

 frost. It can be grown in large masses for public parks 

 with somewhat less expense than geraniums. Mr. 

 Stromback. head gardener of Lincoln Park, Chicago, 

 has recorded his experience with V. rosea in Florist's 

 Review 1:141 as follows: "'The seed is sown in January 

 or February in flats of sandy soil in a temperature of 65 

 to 70. When the seedlings show the second leaf, they 

 are pricked out about an inch apart in trays of the 

 same soil, and when the little plants have five or six 

 leaves they are potted into 2-inch rose-pots, and later 

 shifted to 3-inch pots. The majority are bedded out 

 from the 3-inch pots. The soil of the bed should be a 

 sandy loam if possible, and the plants will not do well in 

 a very heavy soil. In bedding, set the plants about a 

 foot apart. They require more water than a geranium, 

 and when the bed is watered it should be given a good 

 soaking and then let alone for a few days. The plants 

 require no trimming." The amateur will find V. rosea a. 

 satisfactory window-plant that can be grown with little 

 trouble from seeds started as late as April, but of 

 course such plants will not bloom as early as the bed- 

 ding stock propagated in January or February. V. 

 rosea is the largest-flowered vinca, and it seeds freely. 

 (Wilhelm Miller.) 

 A. Plants trailing, herbaceous, hardy or nearly so, only the 



short flouxring sts. ascending: fls. mostly blue or white. 



B. Foliage evergreen. 



c. Lrs. ovate or oblong-ovate: corolla-lobes wedge-shaped; 

 calyx glabrous. 



minor, Linn. COMMON PERIWINKLE. BLUE, RUN- 

 NING, or TRAILING MYRTLE. Fig. 3933. Hardy ever- 

 green, trailing herb: fl.-sts. erect, sometimes nearly a 

 foot high: Ivs. ovate, oblong-ovate, or elliptic-lanceolate, 

 not more than \ 1 A in. long, glabrous, petiole very short 

 with 2 glands at the top: fls. lilac-blue; calyx-lobes 

 lanceolate, rather obtuse; corolla-lobes cuneate, obtuse 

 and truncate. Eu. G. 2:64.^-Common in all country 

 gardens and running wild in cemeteries and shady 

 places. Some of the horticultural varieties are: Var. 

 alba, Hort., which has single white fls. Var. alba plena, 

 Hort., with double white fls. Var. alba variegata, 

 Hort., is a form with variegated Ivs. and single white 

 fls. Var. argentea variegata, Hort., has the Ivs. silvery 

 variegated. Var. atropurpurea compacta, Hort., has 

 single dark purple fls. Var. aurea, Hort., has been in 

 the trade, a form with golden foliage. F.E. 33:479. 

 Var. aurea variegata, Hort.. has golden variegated Ivs. 

 Var. caerulea, Hort. (V. cserulea, Hort. V. caeriilea 

 imnor, Hort.), is a form with bright blue, single fls. 

 There is also a form known as V. csridea argentea rnar- 

 ginata, Hort.. which has the Ivs. margined with silvery 

 white. Var. flore-pleno, Hort., probably the same as 

 var. plena. Var. plena, Hort., has double fls., other- 

 wise like the tvpe. Var. purpurea plena, Hort., has 

 double purple fls. Gn. 50:102. Var. rdsea, Hort., has 

 single rosy fls. Var. r6sea fl.-pl. Hort., is like the last but 

 double-fld. Var. variegata, Hort., is a variegated-lvd., 

 blue-fld. form offered in the trade. V. elegantissima 

 alba, Hort., and also "The Bride," a form with white 

 fls. which are pink-centered belong to this species. 



cc. Los. subcor date-ovate: corolla-lobes obovate. 



diffonnis, Pourr. Subshrub, evergreen and dwarf: 

 branches prostrate and leafy; flowering shoots ascend- 

 ing: Ivs. ovate, base rounded or shortly cuneate, apex 

 acutish or obtuse, 134-2% x 1-1 %in., glabrous, 

 petioled: fls. solitary in the uppermost axils, 1 in. or 

 more across, pale lilac-blue; sepals linear; corolla-segms. 

 obliquely obovate. S. Eu., 

 N. Afr. B.M. 8506. Rare 

 in cult. 



major, Linn. Sterile sts. 

 reclining ; flowering sts. 

 rather erect: Ivs. subcor- 

 date-ovate, rather obtuse, 

 ciliate, shining, 2-3 x 1-2 

 in.: fls. blue; calyx-lobes 

 narrowly linear, ciliate; co- 

 rolla-lobes obovate, very 

 obtuse. Eu. This species 

 is larger throughout than 

 V. minor. It is much used, 

 especially the variegated 

 forms, for veranda - boxes 

 and hanging-baskets. Var. 

 elegantissima, Hort., is a 

 showy form with the Ivs. 

 margined and blotched with 

 yellowish white. Common 

 form among the florists and 

 easily prop, by cuttings. 

 Var. reticulata, Hort., is 

 offered in the trade. Var. 

 variegata, Hort., is offered 

 in the trade. G. 27:330. 



BB. Foliage deciduous or 

 less evergreen. 



herbacea, Waldst. & Kit. Hardy trailing glabrous 

 herb, which usually loses its Ivs. in winter: Ivs. elliptical 

 or lanceolate, rather obtuse, margins revolute; petiole 

 verv short: fls. more purple than the other species; 

 calyx-lobes narrowly lanceolate, acuminate; corolla- 

 lobes obovate, oblong-obtuse. E. Eu., Asia Minor. 

 B.M. 2002. B.R. 301. 



AA. Plants erect, subshrub, tender: fls. rosy or white. 



rosea, Linn. MADAGASCAR PERIWINKLE. Fig. 3934, 

 Tender erect everblooming plant, somewhat shrubby 

 at the base: Ivs. oblong, narrowed at base, veiny; 

 petiole glandular at the base: fls. with a very small 

 orifice, rosy purple or white, the latter with or without a 

 reddish eye; calyx-lobes linear, corolla-lobes dimidiate- 

 obovate, "mucronulate. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. 

 Gn.36, p. 455; 43, p. 389. V. 13:49; 16:49. B.M. 

 248. F.R. 1:141. G. 11:197; 14:333; 37:205. This is 

 commonly called the "Madagascar periwinkle," but V. 

 rosea is probably not native to the Old World, while the 

 only species of Vinca that is really native to Madagas- 

 car^ viz., V. lancea, is not in cult. The plant is some- 

 times called "Cape periwinkle" and "old maid." The 

 three main types should be known as V. rosea, V. rosea 

 var. alba, V. rosea var. oadata, the latter being a white 

 fl. with pink or red center. As a matter of fact, these 

 appear in American catalogues as V. alba, V. alba pura, 

 V. alba nova, V. oculata, and V. varius, the last being 

 a trade name for seed of mixed varieties. Var. delicata, 

 Hort., is a trade name. 



V. acuiSloba. Hort., is a trade name for a white-fld. form, closely 

 related to V. major. p TRACT 



3934. Vinca rosea. 

 (X nearly H) 



VINCETOXICUM (compound meaning to conquer or 

 subdue poison, alluding to supposed virtues). Ascle- 

 piadacex. By some combined with Cynanchum (which 

 see), but differing in anthers having only short scarious 

 tips and bearing horizontal rather than suspended pol- 

 linia. There are about 75 species, all in Amer., mostly 



