Apocynoideae is a subfamily of the
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
family
Apocynaceae
Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...
(order
Gentianales
Gentianales is an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid clade of eudicots. It comprises more than 20,000 species in about 1,200 genera in 5 families. More than 80% of the species in this order belong to the family Rubiaceae.
Man ...
). It contains about 78 genera with roughly 860 species. Several genera are of pharmacological interest - notably those - such as
Strophanthus
''Strophanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1802. It is native primarily to tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, with a few species in Asia from southern India to New Guinea and ...
- which have furnished highly effective
arrow poison
Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...
s, due to their
cardiac glycoside
Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses are as treatments for co ...
content.
The subfamily includes many species with flowers of considerable ornamental value, the best-known of which is ''
Nerium oleander
''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...
'', the familiar Oleander. It also contains the remarkable
pachycaul genera ''
Adenium
''Adenium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1819. It is native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Cultivation and uses
''Adenium obesum'' is grown as a houseplant in temperate and tropica ...
'' and ''
Pachypodium
''Pachypodium'' is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae.
Genus characteristics
All ''Pachypodium'' are succulent plants that exhibit, to varying degrees, the ...
''.
Genera
Gallery
File:Adenium-obesum-001.jpg, ''Adenium obesum
''Adenium obesum'' is a poisonous species of flowering plant belonging to the tribe Nerieae of the subfamily Apocynoideae of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It is native to the Sahel regions south of the Sahara (from Mauritania and Senegal to ...
''
File:Aganonerion polymorphum.jpg, '' Aganonerion polymorphum''
File:Aganosma cymosa G.Don.jpg, ''Aganosma cymosa
''Aganosma cymosa'' is a liana that can grow up to in length, pale brownish tomentose. Leaf-stalks are , leaf blade broadly ovate or orbicular, by , base rounded or obtuse, apex acuminate or obtuse, rarely retuse, lateral veins eight to ten pa ...
''
File:Alafia caudata subsp. latiloba S-1653.jpg, '' Alafia caudata'' subsp. latiloba
File:Amphineurion marginatum (Roxb.) D.J.Middleton Apocynaceae (26195863217).jpg, '' Amphineurion marginatum''
File:Beaumontia grandiflora (1).jpg, '' Beaumontia grandiflora''
File:Chonemorpha fragrans, bloeiwyse, Manie van der Schijff BT, b.jpg, ''Chonemorpha fragrans'' side view of flowers
File:Cycladeniahumilisjonesii.JPG, '' Cycladenia humilis'' var. ''jonesii''
File:Devil's Potato, NPSPhoto, S.Zenner (9099857847).jpg, '' Echites umbellatus''
File:Elytropus chilensis (pabloendemico) 1.jpg, '' Elytropus chilensis''
File:Loroco en flor.JPG, ''Fernaldia pandurata
''Fernaldia pandurata'' (common name: loroco ) is a vine with edible flowers, widespread in El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries in Central America.Morales, J.F. (2009). Estudios en las Apocynaceae neotropicales XXXIX: revisión de las ...
'' (harvested, edible, hairy flowers)
File:Funtumia elastica-1906.jpg, '' Funtumia elastica'', former rubber source
File:Holarrhena pubescens in Ananthagiri, AP W IMG_9244.jpg, ''Holarrhena pubescens
''Holarrhena pubescens'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to central and southern Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochin ...
''
File:Holarrhena pubescens 09.JPG, ''Holarrhena pubescens'' (detail)
File:Ichnocarpus frutescens11.JPG, ''Ichnocarpus frutescens
''Ichnocarpus frutescens'' is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, known by the English common name black creeper. It is native to much of China, India, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia.
It is a woody shrub wit ...
''
File:Kibatalia blancoi Blanco2.428b-cropped.jpg, '' Kibatalia blancoi''
File:Mandevilla sanderi a2.JPG, ''Mandevilla sanderi
''Mandevilla sanderi'', the Brazilian jasmine, is a vine belonging to the genus '' Mandevilla''."Botanica. The Illustrated AZ of over 10000 garden plants and how to cultivate them", p. 563. Könemann, 2004. Grown as an ornamental plant, the spec ...
''
File:Mascarenhasia arborescens (4817608605).jpg, '' Mascarenhasia arborescens'', former rubber source
File:12532-Mesechites trifida-Cacuri.jpg, '' Mesechites trifida''
File:OdontadeniamacranthaSBG.jpg, '' Odontadenia macrantha''
File:Comarca Oeste, Las Palmas, Spain - panoramio.jpg, ''Pachypodium lamerei
''Pachypodium lamerei'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is a stem succulent, photosynthesizing mainly through its trunk, and comes from the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. It has large thorns and ...
'', a pachycaul species
File:Pachypodium lamerei 5Dsr 1733.jpg, ''Pachypodium lamerei
''Pachypodium lamerei'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is a stem succulent, photosynthesizing mainly through its trunk, and comes from the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. It has large thorns and ...
'', close-up
File:Parsonsia diaphanophleba (6968991875).jpg, '' Parsonsia diaphanophleba''
File:Parsonsia diaphanophleba (6968992821).jpg, ''Parsonsia diaphanophleba'', single flower
File:Parsonsia straminea flowers in riparian vegetation along Beor St Creek 7th Brigade Park Chermside P1210803.jpg, ''Parsonsia straminea
''Parsonsia straminea'', commonly known as common silkpod or monkey rope, is a woody vine of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It occurs in the states of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.
Taxonomy
Prolific botanist Robert Brown collec ...
''
File:Prestonia coalita.jpg, ''Prestonia coalita Prestonia may refer to:
* Prestonia, Louisville, a neighborhood southeast of Louisville, Kentucky, US
* Prestonia, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* ''Prestonia'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae
* ''Prestoni ...
''
File:Rhabdadenia madida.jpg, '' Rhabdadenia madida''
File:Stephanostema stenocarpum - Botanical Garden in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki - DSC03647.JPG, '' Stephanostema stenocarpa'' (flowers v. small relative to foliage)
File:Strophanthus speciosus 1DS-II 3-9217.jpg, '' Strophanthus speciosus''
File:Temnadenia odorifera Bot. Mag. 76. 4547. 1850.jpg, '' Temnadenia odorifera''
File:Thyrsanthella difformis Arkansas.jpg, '' Thyrsanthella difformis''
File:Urceola elastica - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-276.jpg, ''Urceola elastica
''Urceola'' may refer to:
* Urceola (fungus), ''Urceola'' (fungus), Quél. 1886, a genus of fungi in the order Helotiales
* Urceola (plant), ''Urceola'' (plant), Roxb. 1799, a genus of plants in the family Apocynoideae
See also
* Urceolate, ...
''
File:Vallaris glabra04.jpg, ''Vallaris glabra
''Vallaris'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1768. It is native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.
;Species
* ''Vallaris glabra'' (L.) Kuntze – bread flower, ''kesidang'' (Malay ...
''
File:Wrightia tinctoria 09.JPG, ''Wrightia tinctoria
''Wrightia tinctoria'', Pala indigo plant or dyer's oleander, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Wrightia'' found in India, southeast Asia and Australia. It is found in dry and moist regions in its distribution. Various parts of the plan ...
''
References
Gentianales subfamilies
{{Apocynaceae-stub