Apocynum

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = SpreadingDogbane.JPG |image_caption = ''Apocynum androsaemifolium'' |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Apocynum |authority = L. |synonyms = * ''Apocynastrum'' Heist. ex Fabr. * ''Cynopaema'' Lunell * ''Poacynum'' Baill. * ''Trachomitum'' Woodson |synonyms_ref = <ref name="WCSP">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=12795 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916034311/http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=12795 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 16, 2020 |title=''Apocynum'' |work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew }}</ref> }}

'''''Apocynum''''', commonly known as '''dogbane'''<ref name="kor">{{Cite book|url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |title=English Names for Korean Native Plants |publisher=Korea National Arboretum |year=2015 |isbn=978-89-97450-98-5 |location=Pocheon |pages=517 |access-date=25 January 2016 |via=Korea Forest Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105020/http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }}</ref> or '''Indian hemp''',<ref name="kor" /> is a small genus of the flowering plant family Apocynaceae. Its name comes from Ancient Greek {{wikt-lang|grc|ἀπόκυνον}},<ref>{{LSJ|a)po/kunon|ἀπόκυνον|ref}}.</ref> from {{wikt-lang|grc|ἀπο-}} ''apo-'' "away" and {{wikt-lang|grc|κύων}} ''kyōn'' "dog",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colorado Plant Database - SPREADING DOGBANE - Apocynum androsaemifolium |url=https://www.jeffco.us/?sna=Apocynum+androsaemifolium&image=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727165744/http://www.co.jefferson.co.us/coopext/plantdetail.do?sna=Apocynum+androsaemifolium&image=0 |archive-date=27 July 2011 |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=www.jeffco.us}}</ref> referring to dogbane (''Cionura erecta''),<ref>{{LSJ|a)po/kunon|ἀπόκυνον|longref}}</ref> which was used to poison dogs.<ref>{{Jepson Manual |taxon=Apocynum |first=Lauramay T. |last=Dempster}}</ref> The genus is native to North America, temperate Asia, and southeastern Europe.<ref name="WCSP"/><ref>{{eFloras|2|102290|Apocynum |first1=Bingtao |last1=Li |first2=Antony J. M. |last2=Leeuwenberg |first3=David J. |last3=Middleton |volume=16}}</ref><ref>{{BONAP |genus=Apocynum |date=2013}}</ref>

''Apocynum'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the queen butterfly and the mouse moth.

==Uses== ''Apocynum cannabinum'' is used as a source of fiber by Native Americans. ''Apocynum venetum'' ({{zh|c=羅布麻}}) is used as an herbal tea in China.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid=10763585 | doi=10.1055/s-2000-11135 | volume=66 | title=Hepatoprotective effect of Apocynum venetum and its active constituents | journal=Planta Med | pages=127–33 | last1=Xiong | first1=Q | last2=Fan | first2=W | last3=Tezuka | first3=Y | last4=Adnyana | first4=IK | last5=Stampoulis | first5=P | last6=Hattori | first6=M | last7=Namba | first7=T | last8=Kadota | first8=S| year=2000 | issue=2 | bibcode=2000PlMed..66..127X | s2cid=25960011 }}</ref> Dogbane contains cymarin, a cardiotonic agent formerly used to treat cardiac arrhythmia in humans.<ref>[https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/56844123 National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Cymarine]</ref>

==Species== Almost 300 names have been proposed in the genus for species, subspecies, and forms.<ref name="WCSP"/> {{As of|2019}}, 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).<ref name=powo/>

* ''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 * ''Apocynum venetum'' L. – southeastern Europe and Asia

{{Gallery|mode=packed |Apocynum cannabinum Toulouse.jpg|Flowers of ''Apocynum cannabinum'' |Apocynum androsaemifolium 2017-05-23 0651.jpg|Leaves of ''Apocynum androsaemifolium'' |Apocynum venetum 1.jpg|''Apocynum venetum'' }}

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=powo>{{cite web |title=''Apocynum'' L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:2211-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanical Gardens Kew |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref> }}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Apocyneae Category:Apocynaceae genera Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus