''Apocynum'', commonly known as dogbane or Indian hemp, is a small genus of the flowering plant family Apocynaceae. Its name comes from Ancient Greek , from "away" and "dog", referring to dogbane (''

Cionura erecta ''Cionura'' is a genus of perennial plants found through the Mediterranean regions, the South and Eastern parts of the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor to Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, ام ...

''), which was used to poison dogs. The genus is native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, temperate Asia, and southeastern Europe. ''Apocynum'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species, including the mouse moth and the

queen butterfly The queen butterfly (''Danaus gilippus'') is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae with a wingspan of . It is orange or brown with black wing borders and small white forewing spots on its dorsal wing surface, and redd ...

Uses

'' Apocynum cannabinum'' was used as a source of fiber by Native Americans. ''

Apocynum venetum ''Apocynum venetum'', commonly known as sword-leaf dogbane, is a plant species in the dogbane family, poisonous but used as a source of fiber, medicine, and nectar for production of honey. Distribution and habitat ''Apocynum venetum'' is conside ...

'' () is used as an herbal tea in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Dogbane contains cymarin, a

cardiotonic A cardiac stimulant is a substance which acts as a stimulant of the heart – e.g., via positive chronotropic or inotropic action. Examples of cardiac stimulant drugs are cocaine and methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a p ...

agent formerly used to treat cardiac arrhythmia in humans.National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Cymarine
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Species

Almost 300 names have been proposed in the genus for species, subspecies, and forms. , only the following five species and hybrids are currently recognized, with several subspecies and varieties accepted for '' A. androsaemifolium'' and '' A. venetum'' (see their respective species pages). * '' Apocynum androsaemifolium'' L. – Canada, United States, northeastern Mexico * '' Apocynum cannabinum'' L. – Canada, United States * '' Apocynum × floribundum'' Greene (a hybrid of ''A. androsaemifolium'' and ''A. cannabinum'') – Canada, United States, northern Mexico * '' Apocynum pictum'' Schrenk – China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan * ''

'' L. – southeastern Europe and Asia

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q133242 Apocyneae Apocynaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus