DOGBANE FAMILY 193 



anthers somewhat attached to the stigma. Ovary of 2 carpels, 

 free or somewhat united ; style short ; stigma entire or 2-cleft. 

 Fruit of 2 many-seeded pods (in the genera here described). 



I. AMSOWIA Walt. 



Perennial herbs. Stems erect, branched. Leaves alternate. 

 Flowers in terminal panicles. Calyx small, 5-parted. Corolla 

 small, pale blue, funnel- or salver-form, downy within. Sta- 

 mens inserted above the middle of the tube, included. Ovary 

 of 2 carpels, united at the top by the slender style ; stigma 

 globose, surrounded by a cup-shaped appendage. Fruit 2 slen- 

 der, erect, many-seeded follicles ; seeds without tufts of hairs.* 



1. A. Tabernaemontana Walt. Amsonia. Stem smooth and gla- 

 brous, branched ahove, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves lanceolate, entire, 

 acuminate at the apex, acute at the base, smooth above, with a 

 bloom or slightly downy beneath, short-petioled. Flowers numer- 

 ous, on bracted pedicels. Corolla tube slender, smooth or sometimes 

 downy above ; the lobes narrow, as long as the tube. Follicles 

 slender, spreading, 4-6 in. long; seeds downy. Swamps and wet 

 ground S.* 



n. VINCA L. 



Perennial herbs or small, slender shrubs; juice not per- 

 ceptibly milky. Leaves evergreen. Flowers solitary, white, 

 blue, or purple. Calyx 5-parted ; lobes taper-pointed, glandu- 

 lar inside at the base. Corolla salver-shaped, thickened at the 

 throat, 5-lobed. Stamens 6, inserted on the upper or middle 

 part of the corolla tube. Ovary of 2 carpels. Pods 2, slender, 

 cylindrical, many-seeded. 



1. V. minor L. Periwinkle. Stem slender, trailing, often rooting 

 at the nodes, 1-3 ft. long. Leaves ovate, acute at the apex, short- 

 petioled, bright green. Flowers axillary, solitary, 1 in. wide. Calyx 

 with linear lobes nearly as long as the inflated tube of the blue 

 corolla. Matured pods slender, slightly divergent. Introduced from 

 Europe and common in gardens.* 



m. APOCYNUM L. 



Perennial herbs. Stems with very tough bark, branched 

 above. Leaves opposite, entire. Flowers in terminal and 

 axillary bracted cymes. Calyx small, 5-parted, lobes acute. 



