VIN CA HERBA'CEA. 
HERBACEOUS PERIWINKLE. 
Class . Order. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
APOCYNEJE. 
Native of 
Height 
Flowers in 
Duration 
Introduced 
Hungary. 
3 inches. 
May, July. 
Perennial. 
in 1816. 
No. 233. 
Vinca is a contracted name from Pervinca, the 
primitive term, as used by the ancients ; the origin 
of which is now buried in obscurity. The Latin vin- 
cio,to bind, from the branches entangling themselves 
with other plants, has been given as an original 
source, but with very little evidence of certainty. 
The English Periwinkle, which was Pervinke, no 
longer ago than the time of Chaucer, is but a trifling 
variation from the ancient word. 
The several species and varieties of hardy Peri- 
winkle are particularly useful in covering banks 
and irregularities, which lie under the drip of trees 
or shrubs. 
The Vinca herbacea is of very free growth, but 
the British species. Vinca minor and Vinca major, 
are evergreen, and far more abundant in foliage ; 
these should therefore be preferred, where the only 
object is that of covering small dells or banks in the 
interior of the shrubbery. 
Any of the species may be increased with facility, 
merely by fasteningtheir long prostrate branches be- 
neath the soil. They strike root in a few months, 
and may then be removed. 
59 Loudon’s Ency. sp. 2345. 
