BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
234 
CHAPTER LVIII. 
THE DOG’S-BANE FAMILY. (Apocynea;, Juss .) 
Character of the Order. —Calyx divided in five, persistent, inferior. 
Corolla monopetalous, bypogynous, regular, five-lobed, deciduous, with 
an imbricated aestivation. Stamens five, inserted upon the corolla, 
alternate with the segments of the limb. Filaments distinct. Anthers 
two-celled, opening longitudinally. Pollen granular, applied imme¬ 
diately to the stigma. Ovaries two, or one with two cells, usually 
many-seeded ; styles two or one ; stigma one. Fruit follicular, capsular, 
drupaceous, or berried, double or single. Seeds usually containing 
albumen; embryo leafy ; plumula inconspicuous. Trees or shrubs, 
generally flowing with milk. Leaves opposite, sometimes wborled, 
sometimes scattered, quite entire, generally hairy ; fringes or glands 
between the petioles. Inflorescence somewhat corymbose. ( R. Br.) 
Description, &c. —The only genus of British plants belonging to this order is the Periwinkle. 
GENUS I. 
THE PERIWINKLE. (Vinca, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx five-parted. Corolla hypocrateriform ; the tube long, the orifice prominent, five-angled, the limb flat, bluntly five- 
lobed. Anthers converging. Style one. Stigma capitate, with a ring at the base. Seeds naked. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —There are only two species of this genus. The name of Vinca is derived from the Latin 
word vincio to bind, as the trailing stems seize upon and bind together the objects in their neighbourhood. The 
genus is placed in the Linntean class and order Pentandria Monogynia, from its five stamens and its single style. 
1-—THE LESSER PERIWINKLE. (Vinca minor, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 917 ; 2nd ed., t. 293 ; and our fig. 1, in late, smooth-edged. Flowers stalked. Segments of the calyx lanceo- 
Pl- 45. late. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Stems procumbent. Leaves elliptic-lanceo- 
Description, &c.— This plant is an evergreen perennial, and when it is found wild in Britain, it only 
grows on banks in bushy places. The wood of the shoots is very tough, and the habit of the plant more binding 
than that of the larger species. There is a variety with variegated leaves, and both it and the species flower in 
April and May. 
THE GREATER PERIWINKLE. (V. major, Lin.) 
This species is found much oftener in a wild state than the other kind, and it flowers rather later. The leaves 
are fringed instead of being smooth, the flowers are longer, and the stems more erect and shrubby, and less 
tough. This plant in France is consecrated Aux doux souvenirs , from Rousseau’s notice of it in his “ Confessions.” 
He says, that once, when walking with Madame de Warens, she exclaimed, “ Ah, there is the periwinkle in 
flower ! Rousseau, who had never before noticed the flower, stooped to examine it, and it became so indelibly 
impressed on his memory, that though he did not see it again for thirty years, he recognised it instantly, and he 
relates how forcibly all the tender emotions of the moment when he first saw it rushed back on his memory. 
