Periwinkle

This beautiful flower is from Madagascar and hosted at the Greenhouse (unfortunately I did not note its name). Neighboring is the Madagascar periwinkle whose alkaloids vincristine and vinblastine are an effective treatment for leukaemia and lymphoma. Although poisonous if ingested, some 70 useful alkaloids have been identified from the sap, which has the attention of the pharmaceutical industry. In Madagascar, the extracts have been used for hundreds of years in herbal medicines for the treatment of diabetes, as hemostatics and tranquilizers, to lower blood pressure, and as disinfectants. The extracts are not without their side effects, though, which include hair loss. In the 1960s, the survival rate of childhood leukemia was less than 20%; today, thanks in part to the periwinkle, 95% of diagnosed cases in remission. One ton of leaves equals one treatment. Unfortunately, the periwinkle is only found in the Madagascar rain forest which continues to be quickly destroyed.

Sonnet: "Silver discovered she needed glasses at [age] 11, and nobody knew despite my grandfather being a doctor. She had a hard time reading or seeing the chalk-board."

Madeleine: "I don't want to wear glasses."

Sonnet: "Well, we are going to get your eyes checked for just in case."

Madeleine: "I don't mind wearing them for dress up. I just don't want to wear them for real."

Me: "You don't have to always wear glasses. You could have contacts."

Madeleine: "But I am just a kid!"

Eitan: "You could wear a monocle."

Me: "That would be pretty cool. You would be like 'here, here my dear boy. Pass me some more of those kippers."

We all crack up.