THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Vinca

Lisa Karen Miller

          The doomed man is led to the gallows, his fate certain.  After he ascends the steps, his head is adorned with a crown.

          The crown is made of intertwined vinca.

          Well into the Middle Ages, criminals were hanged wearing such crowns. This was a holdover of a far more ancient practice – draping human sacrifices with these vines.

          Native to Europe, Africa, and Asia, vinca takes its name from the Latin vincire, meaning to bind or fetter.

          This plant certainly lives up to its etymological roots.

          In England it is known as periwinkle – the color of its flowers. Vinca major is Greater Periwinkle, and Vinca minor is Lesser Periwinkle.

          In Italy, it has a darker pseudonym, Fiore di Morte – The Flower of Death.  It often grows wild in graveyards. In Wales, collecting it from a grave brought extremely bad luck.  It could even lead to your being haunted by the grave’s occupant.

          Its association with death lived on in the practice of decorating infants’ graves with vinca wreaths. In Europe, it was known as Sorcerer’s Violet and was used to exorcize demons. Other common names are Creeping Myrtle, Joy on the Ground, and Devil’s Eye.

          The plant also has protective qualities; it was often hung on doors to protect those inside from intruders, disease, or other evils. Travelers would carry it for the same purpose.

          Its nickname Cut Finger comes from its use for treating wounds. Sir Francis Bacon believed that binding it around a leg would protect against cramp. In Oxfordshire, England, it was used as a remedy for nosebleeds, toothache, and boils.

          It contains vincamine, used in modern medicine as a brain stimulant. This parallels its traditional meanings of early recollections and sweet remembrance.  Gazing at a periwinkle will supposedly restore lost memories. It is believed to banish negative energy.

          In the language of flowers, it says affection and friendship that bind unto death. Couples stuffed it into their mattresses to promote fidelity.

          Any of you who have interplanted it with other perennials have lived to regret it, as I have.  I was suckered in by the yellow and green variegated variety.  Hard pruning, which is what this stuff deserves, kills off the recessive variegation and leaves only the dominant dark green foliage.

          One of its nicer attributes is being one of the first plants to flower in the new year, sometimes while there is still snow or frost.

          If you don’t want to spend your life keeping it from invading, however, periwinkle is best admired from afar.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller