DOGBANE FAMILY 187 



long, nerved. Calyx of 4 narrow acute sepals. Corolla-lobes 4, 

 spreading, greenish white and dark-dotted, oval, acute, Yz in. 

 long, each with a pair of large long-fringed glands. Stamens 

 4, shorter than the lobes. (Szveertia radiata O. Ktze.) 



This is a straight, robust, perennial herb, 3 to 5 ft. high, 

 the unbranched leafy stalk bearing a long cluster of numerous 

 greenish flowers on pedicels 1 or 2 in. long. It grows at 

 Glacier Point, in Little Yosemite Valley, at Tuolumne 

 Meadows, etc., but it is nowhere common. 



4. MENYANTHES. Buckbean. 



1. M. trifoliata L. Leaves long-petioled, with 3 oval or 

 oblong leaflets each \ l / 2 to 3y 2 in. long. Corolla short-funnel- 

 form, 5-cleft, white or rosy, the upper surface white-bearded, 

 nearly J / 2 in. long. 



The muddy bottom of Lost Lake, in Little Yosemite Valley, 

 is full of the creeping rootstocks of the Buckbean, which lifts 

 its leaves above the surface of the shallow water in great 

 abundance. It has been reported also from Crescent Lake 

 and doubtless occurs elsewhere in our district. 



APOCYNACEAE. Dogbane Family. 

 Ours perennial herbs with milky juice and entire opposite 

 leaves. Flowers regular, the parts in 5's except the pistils, 

 which are 2. Stamens on the corolla, alternate with its lobes, 

 anthers grouped around the stigma. Pods 2, the seeds with a 

 tuft of silky hairs at one end. 



1. APOCYNUM. Indian Hemp. 



1. A. androsemaefdlium var. pumilum Gray. Small Dog- 

 bane. Plant low (6 to 15 in.), the many branches widely 

 spreading. Leaves dark green, ovate or roundish, with broad 

 base, 24 to V/2 in. long, short-petioled. Flowers solitary in 

 the upper leaf-axils and in short terminal clusters. Corolla 

 pinkish white, nearly %. in. long, the lobes somewhat spread- 

 ing. Pods 2 to 7 in. long, slender-cylindric, pointed. — Widely 

 scattered in open pine forests, occurring in a variety of forms. 



2. A. cannabinum L. Indian Hemp. Plant taller (2 to 4 ft.), 

 with fewer and less spreading branches. Leaves pale green, 

 narrowly ovate to lanceolate, V/2 to 3 in. long, sessile or short- 

 petioled. Corolla greenish white, T /s in. long, the lobes 

 ascending. {A. breweri Greene, a broad-leaved form from the 

 Yosemite.) 



Mr. Charles R. Dodge, of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, reports that the fiber prepared from the stems of 



