0441 



PERIWINKLE 



Family: APOCYNACEAE. 



Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The stem of the greater periwinkle, Vinca major, LINN., is shrubby, rounded, and 

 two or three feet high. The leaves, suspended on short petioles, are opposite, oval, heart- 

 shaped, sometimes indented at the base, with entire margins that have a few hairs. The 

 blue flowers are solitary at the axils of the leaves. The calyx has five sections that are 

 ciliate on their margins. The corolla is marked with five grooves; the limb is split into 

 five parts. The five stamens are enclosed in the tube. The style is topped with a widened 

 flat stigma. The fruit consists of two long, pointed capsules. The seeds are flat and are 

 fastened to a central receptacle. 



FLOWERS: all summer long. 



RANGE: the southern provinces, in woodlands. 



NOMENCLATURE. Vinca or pervinca, from the Latin word vincire, to bind, 

 because of its long strong stems. German, grosses sinngrun. English, greater periwinkle. 



USES. The periwinkle is thought to be astringent, antipyretic and a vulnerary. In 

 former times it was used to reduce menstrual flow; the prescribed dose was a decoction 

 of a pinch or two of its leaves in a pint of water. Garidel [Translator's note: Pierre Joseph 

 Garidel, 1658-1737] a noted botanist and physician in Aix en Provence, used it 

 successfully to treat spitting up of blood. He boiled it with crayfish and gave the broth to 

 the patient every morning over an extended period. These days it's rarely used 

 medicinally. It's claimed that the crushed leaves applied to the breasts of wet nurses can 

 restore milk production; 



