504 



BOTANY. 



Order Apocynaceee. The Dogbane Family. Woody or herba- 

 ceous plants, generally with a milky juice ; ovaries two, distinct or co- 

 hering, the style always single; pollen granular. In this order of 

 about 900 species there is very generally present a drastic purgative or 

 poisonous principle. Most of the species are tropical, a few only ex- 

 tending into temperate climates. 



The milky j uice of several species produces Caoutchouc when evapo- 

 rated, and that 



FIGS. 438-82. ILLUSTRATIONS or ASCLEPIAS. from a few species 



of Couma, Taber- 

 ncemontana, etc. , 

 in northern South 

 America is used 

 for food. 



Tanghinia vene- 

 nifera, a tree of 

 Madagascar, pro- 

 duces a fruit 

 whose seed is the 

 exceedingly viru- 

 lent Ordeal Poison 

 or Tanghin. 



Some of the 

 trees of the order 

 furnish timber, 

 which is of con- 

 siderable local 

 value. 



Our native spe- 

 cies of Apocynum 

 (viz., A. cannahin- 

 um and A. andro- 

 scemifoliuiri) pos- 

 sess a tough fib- 

 rous bark which 

 was used by the 

 Indians for mak- 

 ing cordage, nets, 

 etc. 



Among the cul- 

 tivated plants are Nerium Oleander, the Oleander from the Levant, 

 an evergreen shrub or small tree with poisonous wood, bark and foli- 

 age : Vinca, sp. Periwinkle or, as it is erroneously called, Trailing 

 Myrtle ; Echites, Attamanda, etc. 



Order Salvadoraceee. A few shrubs of the Old World tropics. 

 Order Oleacese. The Olive Family. Woody or rarely herbaceous 



FIG. 431 



Magnified. 



Fig. 428. Flowrr, with perianth reflexed 

 Fig. 429. -Stamen, with its hood. Magnified. 

 Fig. 430. Gynfficinm with pollen-masses adheri 

 tigma ; two separated pollen-masses at the side. " 

 Fig. 431. Diagram of flower. 

 Fig. 432. Seed. Magnified. 



to the 



