APOCYNACE^. 



1044. Herm. lugdb. 447. t. 448. (Rheede ix. t. 2.) Karavara 

 As. res. iv. 265 Common in gardens in every part of India, 

 China and Japan. Blume. 



Leaves linear-lanceolate, 3 together. Segments of the calyx erect. 

 Appendages of the corolla filamentous. Anthers bearded at the point. 

 Flowers white or red. The bark of the root and the sweet-smelling 

 leaves are considered by the native Indian doctors as powerful repel- 

 lents, applied externally. The root taken internally acts as a poison. 



1 128. N. Oleander Linn, is very acrid. A decoction of its leaves 

 or bark forms an acrid stimulating wash, much employed by poor 

 people in the south of France to cure the itch and to destroy 

 cutaneous vermin. The peasants in the neighbourhood of 

 ,Nice use the powdered bark and wood to poison rats. 



VINCA. 



Calyx 5-cleft or 5- parted, with straight acute segments. 

 Corolla hypocrateriform ; the tube longer than the calyx ; the 

 throat with 5 plaits ; the limb with 5 flat contorted segments 

 obliquely truncate at the apex. Filaments dilated at the apex 

 into concave scales ; anthers membranous, finally twisted. Stigma 

 capitate, contracted in the middle ; the lower half peltate, the 

 upper capitate. Two glands at the base of the ovary. Fol- 

 licles 2, erect, round. Seeds naked. 



1129. V. pusilla Murray comm. gott. 1772. p. 66. t. 2. f. 1. 

 Linn, suppl. 166. V. parviflora Retz. obs. ii. 14. Roxb.fi. ind. 

 ii. 1. Cultivated grounds in the East Indies. 



A small erect annual. Stem smooth, 4-sided, branched, 6-12 inches 

 high. Leaves short-stalked, lanceolate, smooth ; 2| Xf inch ; stipules 

 subulate. Flowers small, white, axillary, in pairs. Mouth of the 

 corolla closed with hairs. Applied in India as an external stimulant, 

 in cases of lumbago. Royle. 



APOCYNUM. 



Calyx half 5-cleft. Corolla campanulate, short, with 5 acute 

 enclosed teeth opposite its lobes. Anthers sagittate, adhering 

 by the middle to the stigma; their posterior lobes empty of 

 pollen. Hypogynous scales 5. Ovaries 2. Stigma sessile, dilated, 

 with a conical apex. Follicles slender, distinct. 



1130. A. androsaemifolium Linn. sp. pi. 311. Hot. mag. 

 t. 280. Bigelow med. bot. ii. t. 36. Sides of fences and bor- 

 ders of woods in the United States. (Dog's bane.) 



Height from 3 to 6 feet. Stalk smooth, simple below, branching 

 repeatedly at top, red on the side exposed to the sun. Leaves oppo- 

 site, smooth on both sides, paler beneath, ovate, acute, on short 

 petioles. The flowers grow in nodding cymes from the ends of the 

 branches and axils of the upper leaves, furnished with minute, acute 

 bractes. Calyx 5-cleft, acute, much shorter than the corolla. Corolla 

 white, tinged with red, monopetalous, campanulate, with 5 acute, 

 spreading segments. Stamens 5, with very short filaments, and con- 



534 



