☙ Periwinkle

Genus Vinca L. (1753) WFO and previous inclusions such as Catharanthus G.Don (1837). WFO

Period Breton (brezhoneg):

Vinca minor: rouanez b. LB

Period English: periwinkle.

Vinca major: greater periwinkle. LB

Vinca minor: lesser periwinkle. LB

Period French: pervenche f. FDE BD LB

Vinca major: pervenche a grandes fleurs f. ('large-flowered periwinkle'); LB grande pervenche f. ('greater periwinkle'); LB

Vinca minor: pervenche a petites fleurs f. ('small-flowered periwinkle'); LB pervenche couchée f. ('reclining periwinkle'); LB violette de serpent f. ('snake violet'). LB

Period German: ImmergrĂŒn n. ('ever-green'). JRV

Vinca minor: SinngrĂŒn n. ('sensitive-green'?). JRV LB

Period Italian:

Vinca minor: provinca [sic] [= pervinca] f. LB

Sentiments:

🏶︎ AmitiĂ© pour la vieFriends for life ◼︎ (1811); BD

 Friendship ▲︎ (1829); DLD

 Sincere friendship ▲︎ (1829); DLD

🏶︎ Doux souvenirsSweet memories ◼︎ (1819-c.1825); CLT LA-M

 Pleasures of memory ▲︎◆︎ (1825-1850); HP:FE TTA LH S&K HGA:OT

 Delightful recollections ▲︎ (1836); TTA

 Tender recollections ▲︎ (1839); FS

 Sweet remembrances ▲︎◆︎ (1840-1858); TM FSO HGA:LPF

 Pleasing remembrances ◆︎ (1869); TM FSO RT:LOF

🏶︎ Mildness ▲︎ (1834); O&B

🏶︎ Treu bis is den Tod.Faithful unto death. ●︎ (c.1880). JRV

Blue (esp. V. minor):

🏶︎ Pleasures of memory ▲︎ (1832); EWW

 Sweet remembrances ▲︎ (1840); CHW

 Les doux souvenirsSweet memories ▲︎ (1840); CHW

🏶︎ Early and sincere friendship ▲︎ (1832); SJH

 Early friendship ▲︎◆︎ (1832-1884); SJH TTA S&K HGA:LPF GAL KG

 Pleasure of memory ◆︎ (1871); JS*

🏶︎ Gebenke der frohverlebten Stunden!Give back the happy hours! ●︎ (c.1880). JRV

* Marked as British meaning.

Red:

🏶︎ False hearted ▲︎ (1845); S&K

🏶︎ Early friendship ◆︎ (1871); JS*

* Marked as British meaning.

White:

🏶︎ Pleasing reminiscences ▲︎◆︎ (1832-1871); EWW JS*

 Pleasures of memory ▲︎◆︎ (1858-1884); HGA:LPF GAL KG

 Pleasant recollections ◆︎ (1871); JS*

🏶︎ Remembrance ▲︎ (1845); S&K

* Marked as British meaning.

White or red (Catharanthus roseus):

🏶︎ Pleasures of memory ▲︎ (1832). SJH

Region:

Note: For the purposes of this article, this section relates to contemporary genus Vinca only, and does not reflect previous inclusions under that genus.

Native: Across continental Europe from Portugal to European Russia, into Middle Asia (Kirgizistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan); Western Asia including Afghanistan, the East Aegean Islands, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine; Northern Africa including Azores, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.WFO

Introduced: Macaronesia and Middle Atlantic Ocean islands including Ascension and St. Helena; Northeast Tropical Africa including Eritrea and Ethiopia; Temperate Asia including Eastern and Southern Central China and Taiwan, and West Himalaya; Australiasia including Tasmania, Norfolk Island, Chatham Island, and Aoretrea/New Zealand; Northern America including central and southern Mexico, USA (Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont, Oregon, New Mexico, Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, California); Southern America including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, Argentina, central Chile, Juan FernĂĄndez Island, Uruguay, Bolivia and Columbia; Northern Europe including Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and Sweden.WFO

Seasonality: Evergreen flowering from mid-spring to late summer. Some Vinca are perennials.

Period Colours:

Blue (V. minor):

🏶︎ Flowers deep blue, white in the centre—scentless. SJH

🏶︎ There is an agreeable softness in the delicate blue colour of the periwinkle [...] CHW

Red or white (C. rosea):

🏶︎ Flowers either rose color or pure white; the centre always a rich crimson, with a yellow eye. SJH

Calendar:

🏶︎ 31 March - In Fabre d'Églantine's 1793 rural emblem annex to the French Republican calendar, Pervenche is the emblem of 11 Germinal (31 March).

Heraldry: TBC.

Cultural and Religious: TBC.

Cited Species:

🏶︎ Vinca major L. (1753), WFO greater periwinkle (BD's 'Pervenche (Grande)'); EWW SJH CHW

🏶︎ Vinca minor L. (1753), WFO lesser periwinkle; EWW SJH CHW

BD specifies 'Vinca Pervinca', which appears to be a conflation of Vinca L. (1753), the accepted genus, and synonym Pervinca Mill. (1754).

🏶︎ Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don (1837), Madagascar periwinkle

 = Vinca rosea L. (1759), WFO 'white or red periwinkle'. SJH

Cited Verse:

❧ 'Ther lakked no flour, to my dome / Ne nought so muche as flour of brome / Ne violete, ne eck pervenke / Ne flour non, that man can thenke,', Attr. ◆︎ Geoffrey Chaucer, The Romaunt of the Rose (created c.1360s, pub. Thynne 1532) Fragment A, ll.901-903;

 'Ther sprang the violete al newe, / And fresshe pervinke, riche of hewe, / And floures yelowe, whyte, and rede; / Swich plentee grew ther never in mede.', Attr. ◆︎ Geoffrey Chaucer, The Romaunt of the Rose (created c.1360s, pub. Thynne 1532) Fragment A, ll.1431-1434;

  The Romaunt of the Rose is a Middle English translation of the French allegorical poem, Le Roman de la Rose, originally written in 1230 by ◼︎ Guillaume de Lorris (which see below). It exists in several fragments, formerly all attributed to Chaucer, but now only Fragment A is considered his work - luckily, both passages cited by our authors are from Fragment A. The fragment with the French together can be read in Skeat's work here.

  The verse is quoted by SJH as 'There sprang the violet all newe, / And fresh periwinkle, rich of hue, / Ne violet, ne eke Periwinke / Ne flour more than men can thinke.', which is a blend of the two passages above. In tracing this quote, I found this same combined passage attributed to Chaucer in multiple almanacs and day books of the 1800s.

❧ 'Je donnerai de ces souvenirs [...] qui se rapportent Ă  la mĂȘme Ă©poque.', ◼︎ Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Les Confessions, Launette Aux Deux-Points: Chez Sanson Et Compagnie (1782) Livre VI, p.224 En Français / In English;

❧ 'See where the Ćżky-blue periwinkle climbs / Up to the cottage eaves, and hides the loam / And dairy lattice with a thouĆżand eyes, / Pentagonally form'd, to mock the Ćżkill / Of proud geometers.', ◆︎ James Hurdis, The Village Curate: A Poem, London: J. Johnson, No 72, St Paul's Church-yard (1788) p.40 Read Here; SJH

  SJH puts this as 'Where captivates the sky-blue Periwinkle / Under the cottage eaves'.

Other Verse:

❧ 'Nulle flor en estĂ© ne nest / Qui n'i soit, neis flor de genest, / Ne voilete, ne parvanche, / Ne fleur inde, jaune ne blanche;', ◼︎ Guillaume de Lorris, Le Roman de la Rose (1230) ll.893-896;

 'Violete y avoit trop bele, / Et parvenche fresche et novele; / Flors y ot blanches et vermeilles, / De jaunes en i ot merveilles.', ◼︎ Guillaume de Lorris, Le Roman de la Rose (1230) ll.1411-1414 Read both here;

❧ 'SinngrĂŒn. Vinca minor. L.', ●︎ Friedrich Wilhelm Grimme, Deutsche Weisen: Gedichte, Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh (1881) p.40.

đŸœ± On sentiments: With the exceptions of false hearted and mildness, all other sentiments attached to the periwinkle stem from the one anecdote drawn from French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau's autobiographical Les Confessions, the full citation of which can be found in 'Cited Verse' above.

Rather than muck around rephrasing the passage in my own words, as it really is quite brief, I am simply going to quote it for you here, c/o the Wikisource versions in French and English:


Je donnerai de ces souvenirs un seul exemple qui pourra faire juger de leur force et de leur vĂ©ritĂ©. Le premier jour que nous allĂąmes coucher aux Charmettes, maman Ă©tait en chaise Ă  porteurs, et je la suivais Ă  pied. Le chemin monte : elle Ă©tait assez pesante, et craignant de trop fatiguer ses porteurs, elle voulut descendre Ă  peu prĂšs Ă  moitiĂ© chemin, pour faire le reste Ă  pied. En marchant, elle vit quelque chose de bleu dans la haie, et me dit : VoilĂ  de la pervenche encore en fleur. Je n’avais jamais vu de la pervenche, je ne me baissai pas pour l’examiner, et j’ai la vue trop courte pour distinguer Ă  terre des plantes de ma hauteur. Je jetai seulement en passant un coup d’Ɠil sur celle-lĂ , et prĂšs de trente ans se sont passĂ©s sans que j’aie revu de la pervenche ou que j’y aie fait attention. En 1764, Ă©tant Ă  Cressier avec mon ami M. du Peyrou, nous montions une petite montagne au sommet de laquelle il a un joli salon qu’il appelle avec raison Belle-Vue. Je commençais alors d’herboriser un peu. En montant et regardant parmi les buissons, je pousse un cri de joie : Ah ! voilĂ  de la pervenche ! et c’en Ă©tait en effet. Du Peyrou s’aperçut du transport, mais il en ignorait la cause ; il l’apprendra, je l’espĂšre, lorsqu’un jour il lira ceci. Le lecteur peut juger, par l’impression d’un si petit objet, de celle que m’ont faite tous ceux qui se rapportent Ă  la mĂȘme Ă©poque.


Of these recollections I shall relate one example, which may give some idea of their force and precision. The first day we went to sleep at Charmettes, the way being up-hill, and Madam de Warrens rather heavy, she was carried in a chair, while I followed on foot. Fearing the chairmen would be fatigued, she got out about half-way, designing to walk the rest of it. As we passed along, she saw something blue in the hedge, and said, 'There's some periwinkle in flower yet!' I had never seen any before, nor did I stop to examine this: my sight is too short to distinguish plants on the ground, and I only cast a look at this as I passed: an interval of near thirty years had elapsed before I saw any more periwinkle, at least before I observed it, when being at Cressier in 1764, with my friend, M. du Peyrou, we went up a small mountain, on the summit of which there is a level spot, called, with reason, Belle-vue, I was then beginning to herbalize;—walking and looking among the bushes, I exclaimed with rapture, 'Ah, there's some periwinkle!' Du Peyrou, who perceived my transport, was ignorant of the cause, but will some day be informed: I hope, on reading this. The reader may judge by this impression, made by so small an incident, what an effect must have been produced by every occurrence of that time.


Abécédaire de Flore

◼︎ B. DelachĂ©naye, 1811


NOMS DES FLEURS
substituées aux syllabes formées de plusieurs lettres.

NOM DES FLEURS. MOTS ANALOGUES.
46. pervenche. auberge, perche, verge.


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46. De la pervenche.

Cette fleur exprime la syllabe en er, comme dans hiver, univers, vers, vert; elle absorbe le s et le t, qui ne se prononcent pas. Elle exprime la mĂȘme syllabe dans les mots personne, version, et dans verre, sans absorber le second r, qui forme la syllabe suivante avec la renoncule et le bouton de rose.


(48-49)


DESCRIPTION DES PLANTES
DE L’ABÉCÉDAIRE DE FLORE.

QUATRIÉME PLANCHE.


 46. Pervenche (grande), Vinca Pervinca, Lin. Cette plante, naturelle aux endroits ombragĂ©s de nos forets, consiste en tiges vertes, grĂȘles, trĂšs longues, traĂźnant sur la terre, et y prenant facilement racine. En tout tems elles gardent leurs belles feuilles luisantes; presque toute l’annĂ©e encore, mais plus abondamment au printems, elles donnent des fleurs assez grandes et d’un bleu pĂąle. Les Pervenches grandes ou petites, et leurs variĂ©tĂ©s Ă  fleurs pourpres ou blanches, et simples ou doubles, sont employĂ©es avec avantage pour garnir certaines parties des bosquets et des rocailles dans les jardins-paysages.


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EMBLÉMES TIRÉS DU RÈGNE VÉGÉTAL.


P.


Pervenche signifie amitié pour la vie.


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La Flore de la Manche

◼︎ LĂ©on Besnou, 1881

G. Vinca L. — Pervenche.


V. MINOR L. — P. A PETITES FLEURS. Pervinca vulgaris angustifolia T. ins. — minor Allioni. (Pervenche couchĂ©e, violette de serpent.) Bret. Rouanez. Angl. Lesser Periwinkle. All. SinngrĂŒn. Ital. Provinca. — Viv. — Mars-juin. Bois, fourrĂ©s, haies. AR.

Varie à fleurs, rosées, violettes et blanches et quelquefois à fleurs doubles.


V. MAJOR L. — P. A GRANDES FLEURS. (Pervinca vulgaris latifolia I. R. H. — major Lamk.) Grande pervenche. Angl. Greater Periwinkle. — Viv. — Mars-mai. parfois tout l'automne. Haies, surtout prĂšs des habitations. R. spontanĂ©e.

Varie comme la précédente à fleur violette, rosée, et blanche et à fleurs doubles.

Ces deux espÚces sont trÚs-amÚres, toniques et vulnéraires.


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Cite this page (MLA 9th): Never Never. “Periwinkle.” Glossa Hortensia, 27 Feb. 2025, neverxnever.neocities.org/glossahortensia/vinca. Accessed [DD Mon. YYYY].