

CI. APOCYNACEiE. 



AP0CTNT7M. 



Order CI. APOCYNACE^.— Dogbanes. 



Trees, shrubs and herls with a milky jmce. Lvs. opposite, entire, without stipules. 



Ca2.— Sepals 5, united at base, persistent. 



Car. 5 lobed, regular, twisted in aestivation, deciduous. 



eta. 6, arising from the corolla and alternate with its segments. 



Fil. distinct. A7ithers 2-celled, opening lengthwise, 



sometimes slightly connected. 

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

 plied to the stiema. 

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

 united. Stigmas united into 1 which is com- 

 mon to both styles. 

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

 Sds. numerous, pendulous, with or witliout a coma, 

 albuminous. Embryo foliaceous. 



Genera 100, species 566, chiefly natives of the torrid 

 zone. 



Properties.— These plants possess active and often 

 suspicious qualities residing in the while juice with 

 which the order is per\aded. and in the seeds which 

 are often deadly poi.sons. The alkaloid strychnine or 

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

 active principle of the seeds of the Strychnos Nux- 

 vomica of India. It is sometimes administered as a 

 medichie, but whh doubtful success. S. Tieule of 

 Java is one kind of Vfas. Cerbera Tanghin. a tree of 

 Madagascar, is powerfully poisonous, a single seed 

 being sufficient to destroy twenty persons. The Apo- 

 cyneEG are emetic, and becoming highly valued in 

 hydrocephalus, &c. The juice contains caoutchouc in 

 small quantities, but in Sumatra this is obtained 

 l;u-ge!y from the juice of Urceola elastica. 



FIG. 54.— 1. Apocynum androsamifolium. 2. A 

 flower, somewhat enlarged. 3. 1 he flower cut open, 

 showing the stamens with distinct filaments and united 

 anth(;rs. 4. The ovaries and stigma. 5. Plan of the 

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

 silky coma. 



Conspectits of the Genera. 



iwith white or flesh-colored flowers Apocymim. l 



with blue flowers Amsonia. 2 



with opposite leaves and bluish-purple flowers Vinca. 3 



with ternately ver cillate leaves and rose-colored flowers Neriwn. 4 



1. APOClTNUM. 



Gr. aiTo, away, kvcoi^, dog; Pliny says this plant is fatal to dogs. 



Calyx very small ; corolla campanulate, 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, suffrutescent, erect, loith opposite, 

 entire, mucronate Ivs. Ci/mes fermi?ial and axillary. Pedicels 7iot 

 longer than the pale flowers. 



1. A. ANDRoSiEiviiFOLiuM. Dog^s-bane. 



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

 the tube longer than the calyx.— A smooth, elegant plant, o^ high, in hedges 

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

 Leaves dark green above, paler beneath, opposite, 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 i' long. 

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

 shaped, white, striped with red, with 5, acute, snreading segments. Medicinal. 

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

 /?, incanum. Lvs. hoary pubescent beneath, 



9. A. CANNABiNUM. Lidiati Henij). 



l/vs. oblong, obtuse at each end, mucronate ; cyvus paniculate, many- 

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

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



