APOCYNACEAE, the dog-bane family, a numerous group of dicotyledonous plants, composed chiefly of tropical twining shrubs but including also various trees and perennial herbs, all with a milky often poisonous juice. The leaves are simple, entire and usually opposite ; the flowers are regular, sympetalous, with the parts in fours or fives and are borne either singly or clustered in cymes or panicles. The anthers are arrow-shaped and pointed, and the granular pollen is often glutinous; the ovary is mostly superior, with two or more carpels. There are about 18o genera and 1,400 species, comparatively few of which are found in cool temperate regions. In the British Isles the family is represented by the greater and the lesser periwinkle (Vinca major and V. minor), the latter of which has run wild in the eastern United States. Of some 6o species representing the family in North America, only about six are found as far north as New York and adjacent Canada. The best known of these are the American dog-bane (Apocynum androsaemifolium) and the Indian hemp (A. canna binum). Several tropical genera yield rubber (Landlophia, Car dopinus, Funtumia, Urceola, Willouglibya, etc.) ; others are source of drugs (Aspidosperma, Strophanthus, Alstonia, Allamanda, etc.). Some are exceedingly poisonous, notably the ordeal-tree (Tan ghinia), of Madagascar; the manghas-tree (Cerbera), of tropical Asia; and the Bushman's poison (Acocanthera), of South Africa. Other widely known plants of this family are the oleander (Ne rium oleander) ; the temple-tree or frangipani (Plumeria acum inata) ; the crape-jasmine (Tabermontanae coronaria) ; the star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) ; and the Chilian jasmine (Mandeville suaveolens). The Natal-plum (Carissa grandiflora) and several other species produce edible fruits and many are showy ornamental plants. (See DOG-BANE; INDIAN HEMP; OLE ANDER ; PERIWINKLE.)