APOCYNACE.E. 447 



Grdup XXX . — G-en tianales. 



C ii 



Order 71.— APOCf NACE.E.— Lindley. 



Calyx free, persistent, 5-parted. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, 5-lobed, 

 often with scales at the mouth, deciduous ; aestivation contorted. Stamens five, inserted 

 on the corolla, with the segments of which they are alternate. Filaments distinct. An- 

 thers cohering firmly to the stigma, 2-celled, with a longitudinal dehiscence. Pollen 

 granular. Ovaries 2 or 1 — 2-celled, polyspermous. Styles 2 or 1. Stigma single, con- 

 tracted in the middle. Fruit a follicle, capsule, or drupe, double or single. Seeds with 

 fleshy or cartilaginous albumen. Testa simple. Embryo foliaceous. 



A very large order, composed of trees, shrubs, or herbs, abounding in a 

 milky juice, and having opposite, sometimes verticillale, entire leaves, often 

 with glands on or between the petioles, but no proper stipules. The species 

 are principally tropical, most common in Asia ; a few only are found in 

 northern countries. They are generally fine and showy plants. 



The whole order is suspicious, for although a few yield edible fruits, and 

 some a nutritive and innoxious milk, the greater proportion are acrid and 

 poisonous. Among the latter class, Tanghi- 

 nia venenifera stands prominent ; the kernel Fi s- 199 - 



of the fruit, although not larger than an 

 almond, being sufficient to destroy twenty 

 men. It is a native of Madagascar. It was 

 formerly used as an ordeal to ascertain the 

 guilt of suspected persons, but the custom is 

 now discontinued. (Hooker, Bot. Mag. t. 

 2968.) It has been analyzed by O. Henry, 

 who found its active principle to bean alkaloid, 

 which he calls tanghinin {Jour, de Pharm. 

 x. 49). Dr. Ollivier made numerous experi- 

 ments with the seeds, and ascertained that the 

 tanghinin was narcotic, and that another 



white, crystalline substance, contained in *"t. venenifera. 



them, was acrid and stimulating. It acts on 



the cerebro-spinal system. The different species of Thevetia are also very- 

 active. T. neriifolia, a native of the West Indies, has very poisonous 

 seeds; these have been examined by Dr. Madianna, and found to be violently 

 acro-narcotic, even in small doses. (Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. i. 86.) Descour- 

 tilz states that the bark is eminently febrifuge, two grains being equivalent to 

 a full dose of Cinchona. (Flor. Med. Antill. iii. 40.) The seeds of C. ahouai 

 have much the same properties, and its bark is narcotic and purgative. A 

 poison in use among the ancient Mexicans, was probably derived from the 

 T. icotli. Many of the Cerbera are very analogous in their action to the 

 above ; the C. manghas, a native of India, has emetic and poisonous seeds; 

 in small doses even, they cause delirium (Horsefield, Asiatic Jour. 1819); 

 the leaves and bark are considered as purgative, and the pounded fruit is ap- 

 plied externally in diseases of the skin (Ainslie, ii. 260) ; the other species 

 partake of the same qualities. 



The Allamanda cathartica, found in Surinam, is a violent emeto-purgative, 

 and was prescribed with success in colica pictonum, in small doses. An infu- 

 sion of the leaves also acts as a cathartic. (Ainslie, ii. 9.) Couma guianensis, 

 a native of Guiana, affords an odoriferous resin, and the fruits are edible. The 



