APOCYNAGE^E. 



557 



distinct at the base but connected at the top by a single style, termi- 

 nating in an oblong stigma, contracted in the middle. Fruit consisting 

 of 2 oblong or elongated capsules or follicles, each of a single cell, of a 

 greenish colour, diverging as they ripen, and opening by a longitudinal 

 slit on the inner side. Seeds several, without the seed-down of many 

 exotic genera of the Order. 



Leaves broadly ovate, and segments of the calyx ciliate on their 



margins. Flowers large 1. Larger P. 



Leaves narrow-ovate, and calyxes quite glabrous. Flowers small 2. Lesser P. 



The V. rosea, a tropical species with erect stems, is often cultivated 

 in our hothouses. 



1. Larger Periwinkle. Vinca major, Linn. (Fig. 865.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 514.) 



A perennial, with a creeping rootstock, 

 long, trailing barren shoots, and nearly 

 erect, simple flowering ■• stems, about 

 a foot high. Leaves broadly ovate, 

 evergreen, and shining, but bordered 

 by minute hairs. Pedicels shorter than 

 the leaves. Calyx-segments narrow, ci- 

 liate on the edges. Corolla large, blue ; 

 the tube broad, almost bell-shaped, 

 though slightly contracted at the mouth ; 

 the lobes broad, almost angular. 



In woods and shady banks, in south- 

 central and southern Europe to the 

 Caucasus, but, having been long culti- 

 vated for ornament, and spreading with 

 great rapidity by its rooting stems, it 

 has established itself much further north, 

 and is found apparently wild in many 

 parts of England, where, however, it sel- 

 dom, if ever, ripens its seed. Fl. spring. 



Fig. 665. 



2. Lesser Periwinkle. Vinca minor, Linn. (Fig. 066.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 917.) 



Differs from the last in its smaller size, more trailing habit, with short, 

 erect flowering-stems ; in its narrower, ovate or oblong leaves, which 

 are perfectly glabrous ; in its smaller flower, with a more open tube 

 to the corolla, and shorter and broader segments to the calyx, without 

 any hairs. 



