OEUEIi LXXXVni. APOCYNACEiE. OEDEK LXXXIX. ASOLEPIADACEJS. 



121 



united at base. Corolla convolute, sometimes indupUcate in pre- 

 floration, 4 — 12-parted, regular. Stamens as many as the seg- 

 ments of the coroUa, inserted on the tube, alternately with them. 

 Ovary 1-eelled, free, sometimes apparently 2-oelled, on account 

 of the 2 introflexed placentae. Style 1, or -nfauting. Stigmas 

 usually 2, sometimes 1. 



as many, which are united in pairs by a connecting thread, and 

 are attached to the glands of the stigma, from which they soon 

 hang loose, being released from their cells. Ovaries 2. Styles 2, 

 often very short. Stigmas united into 1 column for both ovaries. 

 Fruit consisting of 2 follicles, 1 sometimes abortive. Seeds usually 

 with a coma. 



Fig. 29. 



An order of ^cauafal plants generally pervaded by an Intensely bitter 

 tonlo principle. Gentiana (Oentian), flg. 29, and Menyanthes (Buck- 

 bean), are examples. 



GROUP VIII. 

 Order LXXXVIII. — Apocynacese. 



Trees, shrubs, or herbs, with a milky juice. Leaves opposite, 

 or verticillate, rarely alternate, without stipules. Flowers regu- 

 lar. Sepals 6, united, persistent. Corolla 5-lobed, twisted in 

 prefloration. Stamens 6, alternate with the segments of the 

 corolla. Filaments distinct. Anthers 2-eelled, sometimes slightly 

 connected. Ovaries 2, distinct, rarely united, but with 2 united 

 styles or stigmas. Fruit usually a pair of follicles, 1 sometimes 

 abortive. Seeds often with a coma, or tuft of hairs. 



A chiefly tropical order, distinguished by the active, usually poisonous pro- 

 perties of the jnlce, which usually contains more or less strychnine, ^hico is 

 generally obtained from an East Indian species of Strychnos. Some of the 

 plants that yield the Upas belong to this genus, as also that which furnishes the 

 dreaded "Woorari poison of Guiana. The juice, also, yields caoutchouc, which, 

 in Sumatra, is obtained from the TTrceola clastica. Apocynum {Dog-liane, 

 Indian H&m%t\ and Nerium {fiUa/nd&T\ are examples. 



Order LXXXIX. — ^Asclepiadacese. 



Herbs, or shrubs, usually with a milky juice. Leaves usually 

 opposite, sometimes alternate or verticillate. Flowers generally 

 in umbels, sometimes in racemes or corymbs. Sepals 5, slightly 

 united at base. Corolla regular, consisting of 5 nearly distinct 

 petals. Stamens 5, inserted at the base of the corolla, alternate 

 with it» segments united by their filaments into a tube. Anthers 

 2-celled. Pollen cohering m masses as many as the cells, or twice 

 16 



Fig. 80. 



A large and chiefly tropical order, with properties mncli lite the last, but 

 loss active. The various speciea of Asclepiaa, two of which are seen in flgs. 80 

 and 81, are our principal Horthem representatives. 



Fig. 81. 



