ClASS V. ORDER I.] VINCA. 283 



hairy segments. Corolla wheel-shaped, with a short tube, and five 

 oblong lanceolate spreading segments, finely downy on the outside, 

 and fringed on the margin. Stamens with very short filaments. The 

 anthers yellow, oblong, united together in the forai of a tube, opening 

 at the apex with a small pore. Style downy, longer than the stamens, 

 dilated at the base. Stigma obtuse. Fruit a round smooth black 

 berry, with numerous ovate compressed seeds. 



Habitat. — Waste places, road sides, &c. ; not uncommon. 



Annual ; flowering from June to September. 



/5. humile, a smaller plant, smoother, with the leaves less decUrrant, 

 the angles of the stem less distinct, and with yellowish berries. 



It is sometimes found growing with the above, and is tlie S. humitt> 

 of Bernhard, the S. luteo-vireiis of Gemel. and the S". nigrum 5 

 De Cand. By the German Botanists it is considered a distinct species, 

 but we are unable to satisfy ourselves of its being other than a variety 

 of S. nigrum. 



GENUS XXVII. VIN'CA Linn. Periwinkle. 



Nat. Ord. Apocyne'jE. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Cahj.v five partite. Corolla salver-shaped, the segments 

 oblique, spirally imbricated in the bud. The tube long, its orifice 

 prominent, with rive angles. Anthers closing over the pistil. 

 Stigma crowned with a tuft of hairs. Follicles two erect. Seeds 

 naked, (without seed down). — Name from vincio, to bind, either 

 from its trailing stems binding round those of other plants, or 

 because it is used in some places for wreaths and garlands. 

 1. V. mi'nor, Linn. (Fig. 359) lesser Periu-inkle. Stem procum- 

 bent, leaves oblong lanceolate, their margins, as well as the segments 

 of the calyx, smooth. 



English Botany, t. 917.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 339.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i p. 114. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 176. 



Root with long creeping underground stems and branched fibres. 

 Stem trailing, frequently much branched at the base, round, smooth, 

 slender, simple, above leafy, the lower parts strong and very tough. 

 Leaves opposite, smooth, shining, ovate lanceolate, on short channelled 

 footstalks, the upper ones more acute at the extremities, mid-rib rather 

 strong, with slender branched veins. Flowers solitary from the axis 

 of the upper leaves, on a smooth, slender, erect stalk, shorter than the 

 leaves. Calyx of five linear lanceolate segments, nearly equal, and 

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