INCA major. Great Periwinkle. 



V1NCA Lin. Gen. PI. Pentandria Monogynia» 



Contorta. FollicuU 2, erecti, Semina nuda. 

 Raii. Syn.Gen. 17. Herbje multisiliqua seu corniCulatje. 

 VINCA major caulibus erectis, foliis ovatis, floribus pedunculatis. Lin. Syji. Vegetal, p. 304* 

 PERVINCA caulibus ereftis, foliis ovato-lanceolatis ciliatis, petiolis unifloris. Bailer, hijl. m $7Z* 

 PERVINCA major. Scopoli Fl. Cam. n. 1 74. 

 CLEMATIS daphnoides major. Bauh. pin. 302. 

 CLEMATIS daphnoides s. Pervinca major. Get. emac. 894. 



CLEMATIS daphnoides latifblia, f. Pervinca major. Parkins. 380. Rail Syn. p. 268. The greater Pe* 

 riwinklc. Hudfon Fl. Angl. ed. p. 91. 



RADIX perennisj -fibrofa, fibris albidis feu fufcis. | ROOT perennial and fibrous, the fibrous whidfn or 



I of a brown colour. 



CAULES florigeri erecti, bipedales et ultra, teretes, % STALKS producing the flowers upright, two feet high 



lateribus alterne fubcompreffis, glabri, rubro | and upwards, round, the fides alternately 



maculati, caulicuii etiamfunt fteriles qui hu- $ fomewhat flattened, fmooth, dotted with 



mi repent aut plantas vicinas fcandent. | red, there are alfo other ftalks producing no 



I flowers which creep on the ground or climb 



% the neighbouring plants. 



FOLIA oppofita, petiolata, ovata, glaberrima, minu- | LEAVES oppofite, ftanding on footftalks, ovate, 

 tim ciliata, remota, fempervirentia. | fmooth, mining, finely edged with hairs, re- 



% mote from each other, and evergreen. 



PEDUNCULI foliis longiores, erecTi, teretes, glabri, | FLOWER-STALKS longer than the leaves, upright, 

 filiformes, uniflori. % round, fmooth, filiform, each fupporting*one 



I flower. 



FLORES ampli, pailide caerulei. | FLOWERS large, of a pale blue colour. 



CALYX: Perianthium quinquepartitum, laciniis % CALYX: a Perianthium divided into five fegments 

 fublinearibus, ciliatis, longitudine fere tubi | the fegments fomewhat linear, ciliated, al- 



corolliE. fig-, l • t moil the length of the tube of the corolla. 



COROLLA monopetala, hypocratenformis, tubus in- J COROLLA monopetalous, falver-fhaped, the tube 



ferne cylindraceus, fuperne latior, lineis quin- % below, cylindrical, above broader/ having five 



que infculptus, ore pentagono, albido, limbus | grooves, the mouth whitifh, five cornered 



horizontalis, quinquepartitus, laciniis extrOr- | the limb horizontal, divided into five feg- 



fum latioribus, oblique truncatis. fig. 2. | ments which are externally broadeft, and ob- 



I liquely cut off. fig. 2. 



STAMINA: FiLAMENTAquinquebreviifima, inflexa, % STAMINA: five Filaments very fhcrt, firft bent 



retroflexa; Anthers biloculares, introrfum | in, and afterwards bent back ; Antherje bi- 



dehifcentes, membrana pilosa incurva termi- t locular, opening inwardly, terminated by a 



natae. fig- 3. | hairy membrane bent in at top. fi?. ?. 



PISTILLUM. Germina duo 1 , comprefla glandulis | PISTILLUM : Germina two, prefled by two mining 



duabus nitidis liquorem melleum copiofe ef- % glands which pour forth plentifully a fweet 



fundentibus; Stylus utrique unus commu- | liquor; Style one common to both, gra- 



nis, ad bafin fenfim gracilefcens ; Stigmata | dually tapering to the bafe; Stigmata two, 



duo, inferius orbiculatum, planum, fuperius ¥ the lowermolt round and flat, the uppermoft 



albiflimum, pilofum, membranis antherarum | very hairy, covered by the membrane of the 



obtecta. fig. 4. $ antherae. fig, 4. 



In the Syfiema VegetabiUwn of Linnjsus, the laft of his works publifhed under his direction, this plant is 

 fufpecled to be a variety of the Finca minor, a fufpicion for which there appears to be no grounds, and which is con- 

 trary to the united opinion of Botanifts both antient and modern ; the minor it is true has many varieties, but they 

 relate to the colour of the blofloms, and leaves, and the multiplication of the former merely, no alteration is 

 produced in the general habit of the plant, not even by long continued culture ; Haller, in his fpecific cha- 

 racter of the major, obferves, that the leaves are finely edged with hairs, fo far as our observation extends this 

 is confiant, and may ferve, if any difficulty of diftinguiming them fhould arife, to fettle it. 



The major, like the minor, is common enough with us in gardens, but rarely met with wild, yet I have 

 noticed it in feveral places, particularly under Lord Stormont's Park pales, on the left hand fide of the road 

 betwixt Wandfworth and Putney-Common, and in a field near Beckenham, in Kent, where it was certainly in* 

 a wild ftate. 



It flowers in May and June. 



It is regarded only as an ornamental plant, but mould be introduced into the garden with caution, as it en-i 

 cceafes very much, and is apt to over-run and injure others. 



