Dicotyledons with Gamopetalous Flowers . 
69 
Natural Order 
APOCYNACETL. Tab. 57. 
D iagnosis.— Usually climbing or trailing shrubs, with opposite entire 
leaves. Corolla hypogynous, regular. Stamens epipetalous, as many as 
corolla-lobes and alternate with them ; pollen granular. Carpels 2, usually 
distinct m the ovary, united in the style and stigma. 
Distribution.— A large Natural Order, confined to Tropical and Subtropical regions, with but 
few outliers in cool countries. 
One British Genus; Species, 2 (introduced). 
Anthers usually connivent around the stigma, 2-celled, frequently pointed or prolonged into an awn at the 
apex and sagittate at the base as in Oleander (. Nerium). 
Stigma usually variously dilated ; in Periwinkle ( Vinca) annular, beneath an hour-glass constriction, crowned 
by a hairy tuft. 
Fruit either of 2 follicles as in Periwinkle, or berried or drupaceous in some exotic genera. 
Seeds of species with follicular fruits frequently bearing a crest of hairs (comose); in Periwinkle unappendaged. 
USES, &c.—A large proportion of the species possess a milky juice which frequently contains caoutchouc, in a 
few cases in sufficient quantity to repay collecting. Many are poisonous or suspicious, although several species 
afford esteemed tropical fruits, and the milk-sap of a few is innocuous and used as food. Tanghinia venenifera of 
Madagascar is a virulent poison, and was formerly used in the island as an ordeal. The Oleander of our gardens 
