This section is from the book "A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology", by David M. R. Culbreth. Also available from Amazon: Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology.
A-pos-i-na'se-e. L. Apocyn-um + acese, fr. Gr.
from, away, +
a dog - i. e., drives away or kills dogs, hence dogbane. Trees, shrubs. Distinguished by being milky, acrid, poisonous; leaves exstipulate, entire; calyx and corolla 5-lobed; from Asclepiadaceae by stamens being free from style and stigma (insertion on the corolla), and granular pollen, filaments distinct; ovary 2, usually separate; fruit 2 follicles or drupes; tropics; purgative, tonic, febrifuge, poisonous. Genera: 1. Strophanthus. 2. Aspidosperma.
Fig. 315. - Menyanthes trifoliata.
 
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