APOCYNACEjE — LOGANIAOEiE. 537 



rarely ; embryo foliaceous ; radicle turned towards the hilum. — 

 Trees or shrubs, usually lactescent, with entire, generally opposite, 

 exstipulate leaves, with interpetiolary cilia or glands. They are 

 chiefly found in tropical regions. They appear to be most abundant 

 in the hot parts of Asia, are less common in the tropics of America, 

 and still less abundant in Africa. Authors enumerate 110 genera, 

 including 602 species. Examples — Apocynum, Echites, Strophanthus, 

 Nerium, Balfouria, Vinca, Tanghinia, Plumieria, Carissa. 



Many of the plants of this order are poisonous. Some are used 

 medicinally, as cathartics, and there are a few which yield edible 

 fruits. The order is in general to be regarded with suspicion. One 

 of the most deadly plants of the order is Tanghinia venenata (Gerbera 

 Tanghin), the seeds of which, Tangena nuts, supply the famous Tanghin 

 poison, used formerly in Madagascar as an ordeal in cases of criminals. 

 Strophomtkus Kombe furnishes the Kombe arrow-poison of South 

 Africa. S. Mspi^us seems also to supply an arrow-poison in- West 

 Africa. Toxicophloea Thimbergii is used as a fish-poison at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. Nerium Oleander, the common Oleander, is poisonous. 

 The stomata of its leaves are furnished with cellular hair-like pro- 

 cesses (fig. 79, p. 29), and the anthers are terminated by feathery 

 appendages (fig. 366, p. 223). Death has ensued from eating the 

 flowers of this plant. Its branches, when divested of their bark and 

 used as skewers, rendered meat roasted' on them poisonous. The 

 meat proved fatal to seven out of twelve of those who partook of it. 

 The roots of Apocynum cannabinum and androsxmifolium are said to 

 be emetic. The bark of Alstonia (Echites) scholaris is used in India 

 as a tonic. The Vvncas, Periwinkles, are astringent and acrid. 

 Allamanda cathartica, a native of Ceylon and Java, is emetic and 

 cathartic. Although the milky juice is generally acrid, still in some 

 instances it is bland. Thus, the juice of Taberncemontana utilis, Hya- 

 hya, the Cow-tree or MUk-tree of Demerara, is used as milk. Many 

 of the plants, such as Vrceola elastiea and Vakea gummifera, supply 

 caoutchouc. Wrightia tinctoria yields a dye Uke indigo. Aspidosperma 

 excelswn is a Guiana tree, remarkable for the sinuous arrangement of 

 its wood, which gives the stem a deeply-fluted appearance. Beaumontia 

 is a magnificent Indian climber ; it has splendid foliage, and festoons 

 of enormous funnel-shaped white flowers. 



Order 118. — LoGANiACEiE, the Logania or Nux Vomica Family. 

 {Monopet. Hypog.) Calyx 4-5-partite (fig. 311 c, p. 203); aestivation 

 valvate or imbricate. CoroUa hypogynous, regular or irregular, 4-5- 

 or 10-divided (fig. 311 i Z, p. 203) ; sestivation convolute or valvate. 

 Stamens inserted on the corolla, 5 or 1, not always corresponding with 

 the divisions of the corolla ; pollen elliptical or triangular, simple, or 

 marked with three bands. Ovary free, usually 2-celled ; ovules 00 

 or solitary, peltate and amphitropal, or ascending and anatropal. 



