APOCYNACEAE DOGBANE FAMILY 
CLIMBING DOGBANE 
Trachelospermum difforme (Walt.) Gray 
The Climbing Dogbane is found in Illinois only in the 
southernmost counties. It grows in moist woods and along 
streams from Delaware southward, mostly near the coast, to 
Florida, and from Illinois and Mis- © 
souri to Texas and Mexico. Only this 
species occurs in 
North America but 
a few others are 
natives of eastern 
Asia. 
This plant is a 
more or less woody, 
twining and _high- 
climbing vine, with 
milky juice, thin 
opposite leaves and 
yellow or creamy 
flowers. Usually the 
whole plant is 
smooth but some- 
times the young 
twigs are somewhat 
hairy. The stems are 
one-half inch or 
more in diameter. 
The flowers are produced from June to August. The small 
green calyx is glandular inside and has 5 narrow acuminate 
lobes. The yellowish corolla is funnel shaped and 5-lobed at the 
end, the lobes being rolled back and more or less twisted. The 
5 stamens are attached to the base of the corolla tube. The 
filaments are separate but the arrow-shaped anthers are close 
together around the stigma, to which they cling slightly. The 
2 ovaries and 2 slender styles are distinct but the stigmas are 
united. The ovaries develop into long slender follicles which 
when mature are 5-9 inches long. Each follicle contains numer- 
ous small oblong seeds that have a tuft of long hairs at 1 end. 
Because of these hairs the seeds are readily scattered by the 
wind. 
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