Vinca.] 
LV. APOCYNACEjE. 
279 
hiscent, 2-celled, 2-seeded, compressed and foliaceous at the 
extremity (a samara'). Seeds solitary. (Flowers sometimes 
without stamens). — Named from cpaZie, a separation; in allu- 
sion to the facility with which the wood may be split. 
1. F. excelsior L. (common A.); leaves usually pinnate, 
leaflets ovato-lanceolate , acuminate serrate, flowers without 
either calyx or corolla. — a. leaves all pinnate. E. B. 1. 1692. — 
l3. heteroplvylla (simple-leaved A ) ; leaves simple and pinnate. 
F. heterophylla Vahl: E. B. t. 2476. 
Woods and hedges throughout the country. — j3. Rare in England ; 
Devonshire. Tj- 4,5 One of the noblest of our trees, remark- 
able in old individuals for the curving upwards of the extremities of 
the lower pendent branches. The F. heterophylla may be considered 
a sort of monstrosity, often with the leaflets united so as to form one 
single leaf. — The flowers are very simple, and appear before the leaves. 
There is no calyx or corolla. The pistil and stamens, often one of 
each, are sometimes separate, and rise at once from the extremity of 
the flower-stalk. 
Ord. LV. APOCYNACE2E Juss. 
Calyx of 5 persistent divisions. Corolla regular, 5-lobed, 
deciduous; (estivation twisted. Stamens 5. Anthers 2-celled. 
Ovaries 2, each 1-celled, or 1 with 2 cells. Styles 2 — 1. Stigma 
1, capitate, contracted in the middle (like an hour-glass). Fruit 
a follicle , capsule , drupe , or berry. Seed albuminose. — Trees 
or shrubs, often milky; leaves opposite, without stipules. — An 
Order almost intermediate between Gentianacece and Rubiacece, 
containing acrid and powerful principles. The famous tanghin 
poison of Madagascar (see Botanical Miscellany , vol. iii. p. 110, 
and Botanical Magazine , tab. 2968) is the seed of Tanghinia 
venenifera. The root of the Oleander is poisonous, while the 
nearly allied Taberncemontana, or Hya-Hya of British Guiana, 
is the milk-tree of that country, and yields a nutritive fluid 
like cream. Urceola elastica affords caoutchouc. Vinca minor 
is bitter and astringent. 
1. Vinca Linn. Periwinkle. 
Cal. 5-partite. Cor. salver-shaped, the segments oblique. 
Follicles 2, erect. Seeds naked (destitute of seed-down). — 
Name: supposed from vincio, to bind ; which the trailing stems 
do to those plants which grow in its neighbourhood. 
1. V. minor L. (lesser P.) ; stems procumbent, leaves oblong- 
lanceolate, their margins as well as the small lanceolate teeth 
of the calyx glabrous. E. B. t. 917. 
Hedges, and banks in woods. Devon, Hants, and perhaps most of 
