/ f 6 [ 9 * 7 ]
V I N C A minor.
L effe r P eriw inkle .
P ENTANDRIA Monogynia.
G en. C har. Cor. twifted, falver-fhaped. Pouches i ,
ered. Seeds without beard or wing.
S pec. C har. Stems procumbent. Leaves elliptic-
lanceolate, fmooth at the edge. Flowers on
ftalks. Calyx-teeth lanceolate.
Syn . Vinca minor. Linn. Sp. P i. 304. Sm. FI.
Brit. 270. Hudf. 91. With. 268. Pull. 51.
Relh. 89. Sibth. 7 9 - Ahb°t- 53’ Curt- Lond-
fa ß . 3. t. 16.
V. pervinca minor. Raii Syn. 268.
W E have never feen the Leffer Periwinkle (far rarer than
the Greater, t. 3x4) more truly wild than about Honingham
church, 6 miles weft of Norwich. Our fpecimen was gathered
near Rippon, Yorkftiire, by the Rev. Mr. Dalton, and fent by
Mr. W . Brunton, being in the opinion of thofe gentlemen perfectly
wild there. It is very generally cultivated in fhady places
under trees, its evergreen leaves and early flowers conducing
greatlv to the ornament of fuch places. The wild plant blof-
foms earlier than V. major-, and the garden varieties, one of
which is double and reddifh, and another white with variegated
leaves, are found in bloom even in March or April.
The root is perennial and creeping. Whole plant fmooth
and (hining. Stems round, (lender, leafy; eredt when in
flower, afterwards proftrate, elongated, taking root at their
joints. Leaves oppofite, on (hort ftalks, lanceolate inclining
to elliptic, entire, of a full (hining green, deftitute of the
fringed edge'obfervable in V. major. The flowers are alfo
fmaller than in that fpecies, of a rather darker blue, with a
much (horter, fmooth, and lefs tapering calyx. The fruit oi
this fpecies we have never feen.