Ah, Friday afternoon. So much work to do, but who wants to do it? So, vinca strums a chord in my memory. Here's a quote from my Pharmacognosy text, which I keep, like all reasonable people do, within arms reach in my office:
Tyler, Brady, and Robbers wrote:
Catharanthus or Vinca is the dried whole plant of Catharanthus roseus G. Don (Fam. Apocynaceae), formerly designated Vinca rosea Linnè. The plant is an erect, everblooming pubescent herb or subshrub, woody at the base, 40 to 80 cm high. It probably originated in Madagascar but is now cosmopolitan in the tropics and is widely cultivated as an ornamental. The flowers are normally violet, rose, or white; ocellate forms are found in cultivated varieties. Botanically, it is closely related to Vinca minor Linnè, the common periwinkle.
I don't know what that has to do with anything.
My advice would be to plant Belladona. It's not going to help much with your erosion problem, but it has other benefits.
Tyler, Brady, and Robbers wrote:
Belladonna Leaf, Belladona Herb, or Deadly Nightshade Leaf consists of the dried leaf and flowering or fruiting top of Atropa Belladona Linnè. ... Atropa is from Atropos, meaning inflexible, the name of the Greek Fate who cuts the thread of life, and probably alludes to the poisonous character of the drug. Belladonna is from the Italian bella, beautiful, and donna, lady; the juice of the berry placed in the eyes causes dilation of the pupils, thus giving a striking appearance.
The plant is a perennial herb, growing up to a meter in height, indigenous to central and southern Europe and Asia Minor, and is cultivated in sunny locations in England, Germany, India, and the United States. ... The poisonous character of the plant has been known for many years, particularly in the localities where it is indigenous.
There's something about a plant that is known both as Belladonna and Deadly Nightshade that I find interesting.
EDIT: By the way, you probably have it growing somewhere on your property. It has oval shaped deep green leaves and in late spring and summer (here on Long Island, anyway) it gets tiny single white flowers that turn into deep purple berries. It grows like a weed, if you have hedges it's likely in them.
Edited, Oct 31st 2014 2:32pm by cynyck