COMMON GARDEN FLOWERS. 



295 



named pinnata, are from the South of Europe, and 

 very useful for planting on bare banks and slopes. 

 V. Candida is the Silvery Speedwell, from Russia ; it 

 is dwarf in habit and has silvery leaves, and makes 

 an excellent plant for edging flower beds, but should 

 not then be allowed to send up its blue flowers. 

 V, corymbosa is the Many-spiked Speedwell, and one 

 of the most ornamental, growing two feet high, and 

 throwing up racemes of pale blue flowers arranged 

 in corymbs. V. gentianoides is a showy and pleasing 

 kind, the plant forming a carpet of shining leathery 

 leaves, the flowers pale blue with darker streaks ; a 

 native of Greece. There is a variety of this with 

 variegated foliage. V. incana is also an elegant 

 plant, producing flesh-coloured flowers in summer, 

 growing eighteen inches or so in height. V. longi- 

 folia subsessilis is a new deciduous species from 

 Japan, surpassing in beauty all the hardy species at 

 present in cultivation. It is not only the best of the 

 family, but one of the finest hardy perennials yet 

 introduced. It is distinct in habit from any of the 

 genus ; the lateral leaves are very large and abun- 

 dant, and of a deep ohve-green colour. The flowers 

 are in dense erect spikes, a foot in length and from 

 four to five inches in circumference, of a deep rich 

 blue ; it grows about two feet in height, and is per- 

 fectly hardy. V. or ientalis has pleasing light blue 

 flowers. V. prostata is a native of Central and 

 Southern Europe ; it is one of the most showy of the 

 dwarf Veronicas, forming dwarf spreading tufts, 

 bearing numerous terminal spikes of deep blue, and 

 is useful either as a rook or a border plant. V. 

 nipestris is one of the handsomest of rock plants, 

 producing sheets of dark green foliage, smothered in 

 early spring with bright blue flowers, and it is very 

 useful for carpet bedding. V. saxatilis is the Rock 

 Speedwell, from the Alpine rocks of Europe, and it 

 is also found in the Highlands of Scotland; it pro- 

 duces large briUiant blue flowers, and it is quite 

 dwarf in growth. There is a variety of this, named 

 Grievei, bearing rose-coloured flowers. Y. telephifolia 

 is a very distinct trailing species with small, glaucous, 

 fleshy leaves, producing light blue flowers in great 

 profusion. All the foregoing, which by no means 

 exhaust the list of hardy perennial Veronicas, do 

 well in good ordinary border soil. 



Of the annual forms, V. glaum and F. syriaca are 

 the only two to be found in gardens. Both are 

 blue-flowered ; but they do not find a place among 

 our leading hardy annuals. 



The Periwinkle {Tinea) — As the slender stems 

 of the Periwinkle adapt it excellently for garlands, it 

 was with the Romans a favourite subject for that 

 purpose. Its Roman name, Vinca pervinca, which 

 may be freely translated the "bond over bond," re- 



fers to tbe entwining and toughness of the stems, 

 and is thus mentioned by Pliny among the summer 

 flowers of Italy : " The Viitca pervinca is an ever- 

 green, the branches of which run out like so many 

 strings, it is a plant used in topiary garden work ; 

 yet it is sometimes employed in chaplets. From the 

 Greeks it received the name of Chamaedaphne." 



The common name, Periwinkle, is said to be a mere 

 corruption of the Latin name, Fervinea, for by our 

 earliest writers it is called the Pervinke, and it 

 was only by degrees that it subsided into the un- 

 meaning name it now bears. Chaucer speaks of it 



thus : — 



" There sprange tlie violet al newe. 

 And fresh Pervinke, rich of hewe." 



The leaves of the Smaller Vinca are so glossy and 

 green that it is sometimes called the Little Laurel. 



In France the Periwinkle is considered the emblem 

 of the pleasures of memory and sincere friendship, 

 probably in allusion to Rousseau's recollection of his 

 friend, Madame de "Warens, occasioned, after a lapse 

 of thirty years, by the sight of the Periwinkle in 

 flower, which they had once admired together. In 

 Italy garlands of Periwinkle are placed upon the 

 biers of deceased children, for which reason the plant 

 has acquired the name of the Flower of Death ; but 

 in Germany it becomes the symbol of immortality. 

 Culpeper, in his "Herbal," says that the Periwinkle 

 is owned by Venus, and that the leaves eaten to- 

 gether by man and wife cause love between them. 



The Vincas are hardy evergreen perennials, with 

 creeping and rooting herbaceous stems. This is 

 especially true of V. herhacea, a dwarf extensively 

 trailing plant ; not nearly so rampant in growth as 

 the Greater and Lesser Vincas, it is more suitable for 

 the rook- garden than these. It does best in a sunny 

 position, in light but good soil, rather dry than moist. 

 The flowers are purplish-blue, and appear in spring 

 and early summer. It is a native of Hungary. 



V. major is the Greater Periwinkle, a well-known 

 evergreen traiKng plant, with large and handsome 

 blue flowers. This is especially adapted for covering 

 and adorning low fences, and it will grow in almost 

 any position, and especially under the shade of trees. 

 A variety of this, named elegantissima, has the foli- 

 age distinctly margined with gold ; a very effective 

 plant during the winter months ; useful for growing 

 in pots, trailing round pillars, &c. 



V. minor is the Lesser Periwinkle, smaller in every 

 part than the major form, and usually with a, more 

 trailing habit. This, like the preceding, varies in 

 the colour of the flowers. And there are also a 

 double and variegated-leaved varieties. The double 

 form is very pleasing and useful. A variety of 

 K. minor, named argentea variegata, has the foliage 

 margined with silver. Then there is the minor form 



