Dogbane and Milkweed 303 



The insect slaughter which they carry on has 

 the same excuse -as the animal slaughter of the 

 abattoir. It is killing for food, and the insects 

 which these plants catch are honestly eaten and 

 digested. But in the infinite analogy of the vege- 

 table world we find what seems a curious parallel 

 to killing for sport. There are a few native flowers 

 which entrap insects simply and solely, it appears, 

 for the deed's own sake. The prisoners serve no 

 apparent use in the plant's economy, nor do their 

 poor little corpses nourish the plant's life. A 

 botanist who let his imagination run away with 

 him might accuse the guileless-looking flowers of 

 that savage joy in another creature's pain which 

 drew our forefathers in crowds to the badger-draw- 

 ings and bear-baitings of bygone times. 



One of these flower tormentors is the spreading 

 dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium) (Fig. 84), 

 which is common all summer, along shady road- 

 sides and around the borders of thickets, in the 

 Northern and Eastern states. The plant is about 

 three feet high, erect and branching. The flowers 

 are nearly as large as single blossoms of the lily 

 of the valley, and when closely examined are seen 

 to be very beautiful. 



The corolla is bell-shaped, and cleft at the edge 



