APOCJNACEAE (DOGBANE FAMILY) 



313 



horizontal rootstocks, from which new plants are sent up at short 

 intervals. All parts of the plant, even the rootstocks, are filled 

 with an acrid, milky juice. (Fig. 218.) 



Stems somewhat shrubby, one to three feet tall, smooth, very 

 slender, branching at wide angles, reddish on the upper side where 

 exposed to the sunlight, green beneath. Leaves opposite, ovate 

 to oblong, entire, smooth and dark green above, somewhat hairy 

 and paler beneath, acutely tipped, 

 rounded or blunt-pointed at base, 

 with short, often reddish petioles. 

 Flowers in terminal and axillary 

 cymose clusters, the corollas nod- 

 ding, bell-shaped, with five re- 

 curving lobes, pale pink, marked 

 with lines of deeper pink, fragrant ; 

 stamens five, inserted on the base 

 of the corolla and alternating 

 with five small triangular append- 

 ages below the throat and opposite 

 the lobes. Ovaries two, distinct 

 and free from the calyx forming 

 twin follicles, round, slender, four 

 or more inches long, smooth, 

 curved, stuffed with many thin, 

 flat, brown seeds tipped with tufts 

 of fine white floss, by which the wind is enabled to give them 

 wide distribution. 



FIG. 218. Spreading Dogbane 

 (Apocynum androscemifolium). X i. 



Means of control 



When colonies of the weed appear near house grounds or barn 

 yards, they should be killed at once by the use of strong, hot brine 

 or caustic soda. In field, pasture, or fence row, the spud or the 

 scythe should be frequently used, beginning with the first bloom 

 and repeating as new shoots appear, dry salt being used for the 

 purpose of checking new growth. Rankly infested ground is most 

 easily cleansed by breaking it up, exposing the rootstocks during 

 hot summer weather. 



