588 ORDER 96. APOCYNACE^E. 



segm. oblong, thrice as long as calyx, gland at base hairy, stipitate ; capa. ovoid, 

 twice longer than the calyx ; sty. very short ; seeds lens-shaped, shining, border 

 mttricate with sharp tubercles. Ponds, S. States, Savannah (Feay), N. Orleans 

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

 by 3 to 5', purplish, variegated beneath. Fls. white, with yellow center, 10" 

 broad. Seeds straw-color. Jn. (Menyanthes trachyspermum MX.) 



ORDER XCVI. APOCYNACE^E. DOG-BANES. 



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

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

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

 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 TOO, chiefly tropical. 



Properties These plants possess active and often suspicious qualities residing- in the -white 

 jnice with which the order is pervaded, and in the seeds which are often deadly~poisons. Tho 

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

 seeds of the Strychnoij Nux-vomica of India. It is sometimes administered as a medicine, but 

 with doubtful success. S. Tieuteof Java is one kind of Upas. CerberaTanghin, a tree of Madagas- 

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

 cyneae are emetic, and becoming highly valued in hydrocephtilus, etc. The juice contains caout- 

 chouc in small quantities, but in Sumatra this is obtained largely from the juice of Urceola 

 elastica. 



GENERA. 



a Herbs erect, with bell-shaped, whitish corollas and silky seeds APOCTNKTM. 1 



a Herbs erect, with funnel-form, blue corolla and naked seeds AMSONIA. 2 



a Herbs twining, with funnel-form, yellow corolla and silky seeds .FOUSTEKONIA. 8 



b Shrubs (cultivated) with the corolla throat 5-angled, crownless VINCA. 4 



b Shrubs (cultivated) -with the corolla throat crowned with 5 ligules NERIUM. 5 



\. APOC'YNUM, Tourn. DOG'S-BANE. (Gr. and, away, KVW, dog > 

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

 panulate, lobes short ; stamens included ; filaments short, arising from 

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

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

 stigmas connate ; follicles long, sublinear, distinct. Herbs, suffrutes- 

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

 axillary. Pedicels not longer than the pale flowers. 



1 A. androsaemifolium L. DOG'S-BANE. Smooth ; Ivs. ovate ; cymes lateral 

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

 elegant plant, 3f 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 tho axils of the upper leaves. 

 Pedicels ' long. Cal. 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. 



p. iNCANUii. Lvs. hoary-pubescent beneath. 



A. cannabinum L. Smooth ; Ivs. oblong, varying from oval to lance-oblong, mu- 

 cronate, short petiolate ; cal. 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, 6 to 16" wide, usu- 

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

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

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

 /?. PUBESCENS. Lvs. beneath and cymes pubescent. (A. pubescens K. Br.) 

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

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

 folia Ait.) 



