504 



BOTANY. 



Order Apocynacese. 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 juice of several species produces Caoutchouc when evapo- 

 rated, and that 



FIGS. 428-32. ILLUSTRATIONS OF ASCLEPIAS. from a few species 



of Couma, Taber- 

 ncemontana, etc. , 

 in northern South 

 America is used 

 for food. 



Tangldnia vene- 

 nifera, a tree of 

 Madagascar, pro- 



J j. , 



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. canndbin- 

 um and A. andro- 

 scKmifolium) 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, Allamanda, etc. 



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

 Order Oleacese. The Olive Family. Woody or rarely herbaceous 



FIG. 431. 



FIG. 432. 



Fig. 428. Flower, with perianth reflex ed. Magnified. 

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

 Fig. 430. Gynoecium with pollen-masses adhering to the 

 stigma ; two separated pollen-masses at the side. Magnified. 

 Fig. 431. Diagram of flower. 

 Fig. 432. Seed. Magnified. 



