ASCLEPIADACE^ — APOCYNACE^ 387 



A. purpurdscens, Linn. Stems erect, 1-3 ft., leafy, simple or brandling: 

 leaves oblong or ovate-oblong to elliptical, pointed, short-petioled, ,'{-0 in. 

 long: flowers large {% in.) deep dull purple: pods smooth. 



A. varieg^ta, Linn. Stems simple, smooth, leafy: leaves oval, to lance- 

 oval, opposite or whorled, petioled, pale beneath, umbels on downy pedun- 

 cles: corolla white, hoods roundish, sometimes purplish. Dry woods. 



A. quadrifdlia, Linn. Stem 1-2 ft., nearly smooth, and leafy below: 

 one or two whorls of 4-ovate, taper pointed, petioled leaves near middle, 

 and above or below, a pair of smaller ones: umbels few, loose-flowered: 

 flowers small, crown white, corolla white, tinged with pink. Slender. 



XLIII. APOCYNACE^. Dogbane Family. 



Herbs and woody plants, some of the commoner ones resembling 

 Milkweeds, in having milky, acrid juice, and seeds crested with silky 

 hairs, but filaments distinct, pollen granular, and corolla twisted 

 (rather than volvate) in the bud: hairs: leaves chiefly opposite, entire, 

 simple, without stipules: flowers regular and monopetalous, solitary 

 or in cymes, 5-parted: ovary of 2 freo carpels: stigmas united. About 

 one thousand species and one hundred and twenty genera. 



A. Herbs erect: flowers in terminal cymes or corymbs 1. Apocynum 



AA. Half shrubby, trailing or erect plants: flowers solitary in 



axils 2. Vinca 



AAA. Cultivated house and garden shrubs: erect: leaves oppo- 

 site, or whorled in 3's '. Neriutn 



1. APOCYNUM, Dogbane. 



Upright branching herbs, with reddish, fibrous bark: flowers small, 

 white or pink, in terminal corymbs: leaves opposite, entire, acuminate: 

 corolla bell-shaped, 5-Iobed, with 5 small, triangular scale-appendages 

 within the tube, each alternating with one of the flve stamens attached at 

 base of tube: ovaries 2, distinct: stigma 2-lobed: pods long, slender and 

 full of seeds which are tufted with silky hairs at one end. 



A. androssBiuifdlium, Linn. Smooth plants, 2 to 4 or 5 ft. tall, with 

 branches widely spreading, stems usually purplish : leaves 2 to 4 in. long, 

 ovate-acute, short-petioled: corolla small, % in. long, bell-form, with 

 lobes, spreading or recurving, the tube exceeding the calyx. A very common 

 weed along hedge-rows, in light woodlands and clearings. 



A. cann^binum, Linn, Indian hemj). More erect: leaves oblong or 

 oblong-ovate: flowers erect, with the corolla lobes scarcely spreading, the 

 tube about the length of the calyx. Banks and shores. 



2. VINCA. Periwinkle. 



Herbs, creeping or erect, and more or less woody: leaves mostly ever- 

 green and opposite: flowers solitary, axillary, 5-parted: style 1: follicles 2, 

 erect, slender. 



