APOCYNACEAE. 321 



4 short stamens inserted on its throat. Anthers cordate-ovate and unchanged 

 after anthesis. Stigma of 2 fan-shaped lobes which at length separate. (Greek 

 mikros, small, and kalos, beautiful.) 



1. M. quadrangularis (Lam.) Griseb. Commonly 1 to 2 in. high, with 1 to 

 3 pairs of oval or oblong leaves below, these iy 2 to 3 lines long; peduncle naked, 

 quadrangular; calyx short, strongly quadrangular, and seeming as if truncate at 

 base and apex, especially in fruit, when it is 2 to 2% lines long; corolla deep 

 yellow, the lower half membranous, twice as long as the calyx, open under a 

 sunny sky, closing in afternoon. 



Level or moist country in the neighborhood of low hills, or in open woods, 

 mostly of the outer Coast Eanges : Mendocino Co. southward to Oakland and 

 San Francisco. Thought by some not to be a native plant. 



APOCYNACEAE. Dogbane Family. 



Ours perennial herbs with milky juice. Leaves simple, entire and opposite. 

 Flowers complete, regular, 5-merous except the pistils which are 2. Calyx nearly 

 free from the ovaries, imbricated in the bud and persistent. Corolla-lobes con- 

 volute in the bud. Stamens borne on the corolla alternate with its lobes; 

 anthers produced at base into a sterile appendage, connivent around the stigma. 

 Ovaries 2 and distinct (though their styles and stigmas are united into one), 

 both developing into follicles. Seeds in ours with a silky tuft of hairs at the 

 end (coma) ; embryo large, straight, in scanty albumen. An order closely allied 

 to the milkweeds. 



Vinca major L., Common Periwinkle, an escape near gardens, particularly 

 along stream banks, and known in California chiefly under the erroneous name 

 of ' ' Myrtle, " is a trailing herb with blue flowers, naked corolla-tube and naked 

 seeds. 



Calyx-tube adnate to back of ovaries below; style very short 1. Apocynum. 



Calyx wholly free; style long and filiform 2. Cvcladexia. 



1. APOCYNUM L. Indian Hemp. 

 Flowers small, in terminal cymes. Calyx small, deeply 5-cleft, its tube by 

 means of a disk adnate to the back of the ovaries below. Corolla campanulate, 

 5-lobed, bearing 5 small triangular-subulate appendages alternate with the sta- 

 mens. Stamens borne at base of corolla ; filaments short and broad ; anthers 

 sagittate, acute. Style very short or hardly any; stigma ovoid, obscurely 2- 

 lobed. Follicles 2 to 7 in. long, slender, pointed, terete. Seeds numerous, 

 flattish. (Greek apo, from, and kuon, dog, ancient name of the Dogbane.) 



Low pubescent herb; corolla pinkish white 1. A. androsaonifolmm 



Tall glabrous yellowish green herb; corolla greenish .2. A. cannabinum. 



1. A. androsaemifolium L. var. pumilurr Gray. Diffusely branched, 7 to 

 12 in. high, finely pubescent ; leaves ovate to oval, or some lowermost orbicular, 

 varying from obtuse to cordate at base, % to 1 in. long, on short petioles; flow- 

 ers solitary in the upper axils, and in short cymose clusters at the ends of the 

 branches; corolla pinkish white, subcylindric, 2 lines long or over, its lobes 

 broadly oblong, its tube much exceediing the lanceolate calyx-lobes. 



Mt. Diablo; St. Helena; northward to Mt. Shasta. .June. 



2. A. cannabinum L. Common [ndian Hemp. Stems erect, 2 to 4 ft. high, 

 rather strict; herbage of a light almost yellowish green, glabrous; leaves oval 

 to oblong-ovate or lanceolate, sessile or short-petioled ; corolla greenish, 1% 

 lines long or less, its segments not surpassing the calyx-lobes. 



Stream and river-banks, widely distributed but more common toward the in- 



