80 



DOGBANE FAMILY {ApocynacecB) 



SPREADING DOGBANE {Apocynum androsaemifolium L.) 

 ^ • Plate XXXI. 



Common Names: The spreading dogbane is also called honey-bloom, 

 bitter root, wandering milkweed, wild ipecac, rheumatism- weed. 



Description: The spreading dogbane is a perennial herb from two 

 to three feet high, rich in milk-sap, with a smooth stem usually red on one 

 side and with spreading branches. The leaves are opposite, short-stalked, 

 oval, acute, entire, two to three inches long. The flowers are small, pale 

 rose, somewhat striped, open bell-shaped, in loose cymes, the corolla tube 

 much longer than the calyx, with spreading lobes, sweet-scented towards 

 evening. The fruit consists of two slender pods, four to six inches long. 

 The seeds are numerous, with a tuft of white silky down at one end. The 

 plant is in bloom during June and July. 



Distribution: It is found commonly in fields and thickets, and open 

 woods from Anticosti to British Columbia. 



Poisonous Properties: See the following species. 



BLACK INDIAN HEMP {Apocynum cannabinum L.) Dogbane Family. 



Common Names: This species is known also as wild cotton, rheuma- 

 tism-root, amy-root. 



Description: The flowers of this species differ from the above in 

 being greenish-white, without perfume. The corolla lobes are ascending 

 and not longer than the calyx lobes. The seeds are slightly longer. The 

 black Indian hemp has a strong, tough fibre, at the same time fine and 

 soft, which is used by the North American Indians in making bags, 

 baskets, belts, fishing lines and nets. Both species are generally distri- 

 buted across the continent, but are seldom found in close proximity. 



Poisonous Properties: Both the spreading dogbane and the black 

 Indian hemp are said to be poisonous to live stock. As a rule the plants 

 are not enticing to stock as they have tough stems, but in the early summer, 

 when the stalks are tender and succulent and in those places where the 

 plant is abundant and more wholesome vegetation is lacking, animals are 

 tempted to eat the young green shoots. 



The black Indian hemp contains the poisonous glucoside apocynin^ 

 as well as the glucoside apocynein. 



