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Flora Emslandia - Plants in Emsland (northwestern Germany)

Dogbane family

Apocynaceae Adanson: Dioscorides, a Greek physician from the 1st century AD., mentioned a particular plant that is toxic to dogs: Apokynon (gr.  apo = away and gr. kynes = dogs). It has sticky leaves that resemble the ivy and a yellow latex.

Possibly Marsdenia erecta was meant, a south eastern European species of milkweed, which however leads white latex and has different shaped leaves. The name Apocynum but was transferred in 1753 by Linnaeus to a genus that is not native to Europe. After this genus the family is named.

About 400 genera with about 4500 species contains the family today, including the former Asclepiadoideae.

The taxon consists of trees and shrubs, cactus-like plants, lianas and herbs - all forms of life are represented. Their mostly undivided leaves, rarely transformed into thorns, are usually opposite, rarely in whorls or alternate, stipules are rare. The flowers are usually pentamerous, hermaphrodite and actinomorphic. Often the sepals and petals are fused at the base.

The family of these mostly evergreen and often lactarious plants is mainly distributed in the tropics and subtropics.

Interesting notes

• The oleander which is popular as container plant because of its fragrance, is very poisonous, like many members of this family.

• Besides the two periwinkle species Vinca major and V. minor, the also highly toxic white swallow-wort occurs in Germany. It grows preferably on limestone and is therefore extremely rare in the lowlands of Lower Saxony.

• The South Asian pong-pong (Cerbera odollam) is so highly toxic, that the consumption of a single fruit after not more than 6 hours resulting in death due to cardiac arrest. With no other plant in the world so many suicides are committed.

• Apocynum species (dogbane) occur mainly in North America. The fibers of some species are used to weave fabrics, or they are processed to make ropes and nets.