Periwinkle.
Botanical name:
Vinca pervinca.
A very pretty creeping plant, wild in some places, but kept in gardens also. The stalks are numerous, and a foot or more in length, but they do not stand upright: they are round, green, and tough, and generally trail upon the ground. The leaves are oblong, broad of a shining green colour, smooth on the surface and placed two at each joint. The flowers are large and blue: they are bell-fashioned, and stand on long foot stalks: the fruit succeeding. Each is composed of two longish pods; each containing several seeds.
The whole plant is used fresh. It is to be boiled in water, and the decoction drank with a little red wine in it. It stops the overflowing of the menses, and the bleeding of the piles.
