APOCYNACEAE (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, Q 
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, Fic. 218.— Spreading Dogbane 
flat, brown seeds tipped with tufts (APocynum androsemifolivm). x 3. 
of fine white floss, by which the wind is enabled to give them 
wide distribution. 
CHE 4 E295 
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. 
