588 Order 96.— APOCYNACBJS. 



segm. oblong, thrico as bag as calyx, gland at base hairy, stipitate ; caps, arovGt, 

 twice louger tlian tho calyx ; sty. very short ; seeds lens-shaped, shining, border 

 muricate with sharp tubercles. — Ponds, S. State?, Savannah (Feay), N. Orleans 

 (Hale). Petioles 2 to 8f long, according tc- the depth of the water. Lvs. 2-£ lo 4' 

 by 3 to 5', purplish, variegated beneath. Fls. white, with yellow center, 1ft" 

 broad. Seeds straw-color. J a. (Menyanthes trachyspemiuni Mi) 



Order XCVL APOCYNACEJS. Dog-banes. 



Plant with an acrid, milky juice,, entire, cxstipulate, mostly opposite leaves. 

 Flowers 5-parted, regular, tho calyx persistent, the corolla- twisted in aestivation. 

 Stamens 5. with distinct filaments, anthers filled with granular pollen. Ovaries 2 r 

 distinct, but their stigmas blended into a head-shaped mass. Fruit 1 to* 2 follicles, 

 or capsular or baccate, with albuminous seeds. 



Genera 90, species 700, chiefly tropical 



Properties- — These plants possess aetive and ofteiv suspicious qualities^ residing in the white* 

 juice with which the order is pervaded, and in the seeds which ure often deadly poisons. The 

 alkaloid strychnine or strychnia, one of the most violent poisons is tho active principle of the 

 seeds of the Stryehnos Nux-vomiea of India., it is sometimes administered as a medicine, hut 

 with doubtful success, ib. Tieute of .lava is one bind of Upas. Ce.rbera-Titni'hin, a tree of Madagas- 

 car, is powerfully poisonous, a single seed being sufficient to- destroy twenty persons. The Apo- 

 .cynew are emetic, and becoming highly valued in hydrocephalus, etc-. The- juice contains caovt- 

 ehonc in small quantities,, but ia Sumatra, this is obtained largely from the j.uice of Urceol*. 

 slastic.1. 



GENERA. 



& Herbs erect, with- bell-shaped, whitish corollas and silky seeds Apoctn-jm. % 



a Herbs erect, with funnel-form, bluo corolla and naked seeds Amsonia. 2 



a Herbs twining, with funnel-form* yellow corolla and silky seeds . Forstbkosia. 3- 



b Shrubs ^cultivated) with tho corolla throat 5-arcgled, crownless Vinca. i 



b Shrubs (cultivated) with the corolla, throat crowned with 5 ligules Neiibum. 5* 



1. APOC'YNUM, Tourn. DooVbaste. (Gr„ drro, away, Kvov r dog ? 

 Pliny says this plant is fatal to dogs.) Calyx very small ; corolla cam~ 

 panulatc, lobes- short ;• stamens included; filaments short, a?ising from 

 the base of the corolla, and alternate with 5 glandular teeth ; anthers 

 sagittate, connivent, cohering to the stigma by tho middle; ova. 2 ; 

 stigmas connate ; follicles long, sublinear, distinct. — Herbs, suffrutcs- 

 cent, erect, with opposite,, entire,, mucronate lvs. Cymes terminal and 

 axillary. Pedicels not. longer than the pale flowers. 



1 A. androsaemifolitim L. Dog/s-bane. Smooth ; lvs. ovate r cymes lateral 

 and terminal ; limb of cor. spreading, the tube longer than the calyx. — A smooth,, 

 elegant plant, Sf high, in hedges and borders of fields. Stem reddened by tho 

 sun, erect, branching above. Leaves dark green above, paler beneath, opposite,, 

 rounded at base and acute at apex, 2 — 3' long and f as wide, on petioles £' long. 

 Cymes paniculate, at the top of the branches and in the axils of the upper leaves. 

 ^Pedicels J' long. Gal. much shorter than tho corolla. Cor. as long as the pedi- 

 cels, bell-shaped, white, striped with red, with 5, acute, spreading segments. 

 Follicles 3- to 4' long. Jn., JL — Medicinal. 

 /?. ixcanum. Lvs.. hoary-pubesoent' beneath. 

 A- cannabinum L. Smooth ■Ivs.eiloag, varying from oval to. lanee-oblong, mu~ 

 cronate, short petiolato; cat. lobes lanceolate, about equaling, the corolla tube ; cor. 

 lobes erect. — In shady soils, Can. to Ga. and Ark. Plant widely branched, 2 to 4f 

 high. Lvs. smaller and thicker than in No.. 1, 2 to 4' long, G to 16' wide, usu- 

 ally rounded at baso and acute at apex, often obtuse or acute at both ends, the- 

 petioles 1 to 3" long. Fls. in dense, upright cymes, and not a3 large as in No. 1. 

 Cor. white, with erect segments, hardly 2" long. Follicles 3^ long. Jn. — Aug. 

 p. I'UBESCENS. Lvs. beneath and cymes pubescent. (A. pubescens R. Br.) 

 y, hypericifolium. Lvs. narrowly oblong, subsessile, smooth ; ova. inclining 

 to ovate-oblong; cymes generally longer than tha leaves. (A. hyperici- 

 fclia Ait.) 



