PENTAD DRI A. MONOGYNIA. Vinca. 341 
but sometimes the lower ones forming a panicle. Calyx four or five- 
cleft, widely conical. Stamens four or five. ( Leaves turned to one side, 
about an inch long. Clusters terminal. E.) 
(Bastard Toad Flax. E.) Dry heaths and hills in calcareous soil. 
Common in Dorsetshire. Dr. Pulteney. Chalk cliffs on the south-west 
side of the Isle of Wight. Dr. Stokes. Near Bury, Suffolk. Mr. Wood¬ 
ward. In the loose sand by the ferry leading to Portland Island. Mr. 
Stackhouse. (Dry pastures at Stanton St. John, Oxfordshire. Sibthorp. 
On Box HilL Mr. Winch. Shepscombe Hill, Pains wick. Mr. O. Ro¬ 
berts. E.) P. June—July. 
VIN'CA.* Bloss. salver-shaped, oblique: Seed-vess. two up¬ 
right follicles: Seeds naked. 
V.* mi'nor. Stems trailing: leaves spear-egg-shaped, smooth-edged: 
flowers on fruit-stalks: (segments of the calyx lanceolate. E.) 
Curt. 172 —( j E. Bot. 917. E.) — Ludw. 75 — Kniph. 1 —Sheldr. 22 — Blackw. 
59—Dad. 40 5—Lob. Obs. 360. 1 —Ger.Em.. 894. 1 —Park. 381. I —J. B. 
ii. 131— Matth. 956— Wale. — Trag. 394— Fuchs. 360. 
( Stems smooth, cylindrical, extending, heaves dark shining green, remain¬ 
ing so through the winter. E.) Flowering-stem upright in the spring, 
but in autumn it bears flowers on the shoots of the year, which are pro¬ 
cumbent. Woodw. Calyx shorter than the tube of the blossom. Style 
inversely conical. Upper summit woolly. Leaf-stalks short. Blossom 
blue or white, (axillary, solitary. E.) 
Lesser Periwinkle. (Welsh: Erllysg, &c. lleiaf E.) Woods and 
hedges. Near Hampstead. Earsham Wood, and hedges near Diss, 
plentifully. Mr. Woodward. Rainsal Brow, near Manchester, abund¬ 
ant. Mr. Caley. (In Selborne-hanger and Shrub-wood, Hants. White’s 
Nat. Hist. At Shillingford, near Exeter, by the road side. Rev. J. Pike 
Jones. Toxteth Park, near Liverpool, and in profusion at the Nut woods, 
near Hale. Dr. Bostock. About Honingham church, near Norwich. Sir 
J.E. Smith. Bank Side in Longridge, and the Beech lane, Painswick. Mr. 
O. Roberts. Auchindenny and Colinton Woods. Mr. Arnott, in Grev. Edin. 
In a lane leading from the Larches to the Alcester road, near Birming¬ 
ham. E.) P. April—May.t 
V. ma'jor. (Stems ascending, leaves egg-shaped, fringed: flowers on 
fruit-stalks : segments of the calyx bristle-shaped, elongated. E.) 
* (From vincio, to bind ; its runners trailing round other plants: or to those who 
prefer a more interesting association, we would intimate that of such was formed in ancient 
times the bridal zone which none but the bride-groom was privileged to untie. In modern 
Italy it is said to be appropriated to a far different usage, that of enwreathirig deceased 
infants, and is hence called il Fior di Morto .” E.) 
t The fruit seldom comes to maturity, and Caesalpinus seems the only one that has 
observed it in this state. It may, however, be easily obtained by planting V. major in a 
pot, where the roots not having free room to extend themselves, the juices are more 
copiously propelled towards the pistil, which then expands into well-formed seed vessels. 
Tournefort. (The medicinal qualities so highly extolled by the older writers, are no longer 
considered worthy of record. It may probably prove little more than astringent. Where 
undisturbed, especially on a sunny aspect, it quickly extends into large dense patches, or¬ 
namental to the shrubbery or wilderness, both for long-continued blossoms during the 
spring months, and its agreeable verdant foliage in winter. A white-flowered variety with 
variegated leaves is frequent in gardens : also one bearing double purplish blossoms. E.) 
