456 



CI. APOCYNACE^. 



Apocynum 



Order CI. APOCYNACE^.— Dogbanes. 



Trees, shrubs and herbs with a milky juice. Lvs. opposite, entire, without stipules. 



Coi.— Sepals 5, united at base, persistent. 



Cor. 5 loued, regular, twisted in aistivation, deciduous. 



SCa. 5, arising tiom the corclla and alternate with its segments. 



Fil. distinct. Anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise, 



sometimes slightly connected. 

 Pollen granular, globose or 5-lobed, immediately ap- 

 plied to tlie stigma. 

 Ova. 2, distinct or rarely united. Styles distinct or 

 Sir ^^^ united. Stig^mas united into 1 which is com- 



\\ i^h^^ mon to both styles. 



fV.— Follicles 2, rarely 1 of them abortive. 

 Sds. numerous, pendulous, with or without a coma. 

 albuminous. Embryo foliaceous. 



1 \vvVW A' '7 Genera 100, species 566, chiefly natives of the torrid 



#•/ "/// \ \' ' /?iia\. ,'/ zone. 



^^\^ >? N^ ^iiilli)'^ Properties. — These plants possess active and often 



" suspicious qualities residing in the white juice with 



■H hich the order is pervaded, and in the seeils which 



are often deadly poisons. The alkaloid strychnine or 



strichnia,oDa of the most violent of poisons, is the 



active prmciple of the seeds of the Strychnos Nux- 



,,., - «5,^^si Vi-v^v-'v' vomica of India. It is sometimes administered as a 



l\j) ^^^^^^'^^'^^^ medicine, but with doubtful success. S. Tieute of 



^' Java is one kind of Upas Cerbera Tanghin. a tree of 



Madagascar, is powerfuUy poisonous, a single seed 



being sufficient to destroy twenty persons. The Apo- 



'/ ® \ cinea; are emetic, and becoming highly valued in 



If A^\ \ hydroceplialus. &c. The juice contains caoutchouc in 



^ /7;f I II I ' (o\ [k KS I Fmall quantities, but in Siunalra this is obtained 



■^ //I M V\ vlb/**// largely from tlie juice of Urceola elastica. 



7H /^ M \1 —""'Ci^ Y\G. 54.— 1. Apocynum androsa'mifolium. 2. A 



b1 /sr ///f ^ -^ flower, somewhat enlarged. 3. The flower cut open. 



/» ^ showingthestamens with distinct filaments and united 



" "^ anthers. 4. The ovaries and stigma. 5. Plan of the 



flower. 6. Matured follicles. 7. A seed with the long, 

 silky coma. 

 Conspectus of the Genera. 



J with white or flesh-colored flowers Apocynwrn. I 



Herbs ( with blue flowers. Amsonia. 2 



i with opposite leaves and bluish-purple flowers Vinca. 3 



Shrubs ^ with ternatoly ver cillate leaves and rose-colored flowers Neritimi. i 



1. APOCYNUM. 



G-r. a-jTo, away, kvo)v, dog; Pliny says this plant is fatal to dogs. 



Calyx very small ; corolla eampanulate, lobes short ; stamens 

 included ; filaments short, arising from the base of the corolla, and 

 alternate with 5 glandular teeth ; anthers sagittate, connivent, coher- 

 ing to the stigma by the middle ; ova. 2 ; stigmas connate ; follicles 

 long, sublinear, distinct. — Herbs, suffrutesccnt, erect, xoiili opposite, 

 entire, mucronate lvs. Cymes terminal and a:xillary. Pedicels not 

 longer than the pale flowers. 



1. A. androsjEmifolium. Dogh-hane. 



Smooth ; lvs. ovate ; cymes lateral and terminal ; limb of cor. spreading, 

 the tube longer than the calyx. — A smooth, elegant plant, 3t high, in hedges 

 and borders of fields. Stem reddened by the sun, erect, branching above. 

 Leaves dark green above, paler beneath, oppo.site, rounded at base and acute at 

 apex, 2 — 3' long and | as wide, on petioles \' long. Cymes paniculate, at the 

 top of the branches and in the axils of the upper leaves. Pedicels J' long. 

 Calyx much shorter than the corolla. Corolla as long as the pedicels, bell- 

 shaped, white, sniped with red, with 5, acute, spreading segments. Aledicinal, 

 U. S. and Brit. Am. Jime, July. 

 /?. incwnum. Lvs. hoary pubescent beneath. 



2. A. caNN.^BiNUM. Indian Hemp. 



L/vs. oblong, obtuse at each end, mucronate; cymes paniculate, many- 

 flowered, terminal and lateral ; coJ. seg. lanceolate, equaling the tube of the 

 corolla; ciyr. seg. erect. — A species with smaller leaves and erect flowers, found 



