504 



BOTANY. 



Order Apocynaoese. -The Dogbane Family. Woody or herba- 

 ceous plants, generally with a milky juice ; ovaries two, distinct or co- 

 hering the style always single; pollen granular. In this order ol 

 about 900 species there is very generally present a drastic purgative or 

 poisonous principle. Most of the species are tropical, a few only ex- 

 tending into temperate climates. 



The milky juice of several species produces Caoutchouc when evapo- 



Figs. 428-32.— iLmaTBATioNS op Abclepias. 



rated, and that 

 from a few species 

 of Couma, Tdher- 

 noemoniana, etc. , 

 in northern South 

 America is used 

 for food. 



Tangliinia vene- 

 nifera, a. tree of 

 Madagascar, pro- 

 / m \ \ (I E \\A duces a fruit 



/ M V V I wl )/ whose seed is the 



/^_^\ /^v__? I t;-jIi''A;s' exceedingly viru- 



lent Ordeal Poison 

 or Tanghin. 



Some of the 

 trees of the order 

 furnish timber, 

 which is of con- 

 siderable local 

 value. 



Our native spe- 

 cies of Apocynum 

 (viz., A.canhobin- 

 um and A. andro- 

 scBmifolium) pos- 

 sess a tough fib- 

 rous bark which 

 was used by the 

 Indians for mak- 

 ing cordage, nets, 

 etc. 



Among the cul- 

 tivated plants are Nerium Oleander, the Oleander from the Levant, 

 an evergreen shrub or small tree with poisonous wood, bark and foli- 

 age : Vinca, sp. Periwinkle or, ag it is erroneously called. Trailing 

 Myrtle ; Echites, AUamanda, etc. 

 Order Salvadoraceae. — A few shrubs of the Old World tropics. 

 Order Oleace^e. — The Olive Family. Woody or rarely herbaceous 



ElG. 431. 



Tig. 432. 



Fig. 438.— Flower, with periauth reflexed. Magnified. 

 Fig. 429.— Stamen, with its hood. Magnified. 

 Fig. 430.— Gynoecium with pollen-masses atihering to the 

 stigma ; two separated pollen-masses at the side. Magnified. 

 Fig. 431. — Diagram of flower. 

 Fig. 432.— Seed. Magnified. 



