APOCYNA'CEE, or ArocY'Nei, a natural order of dicotyledonous plants, con sisting of trees and shrubs, generally with milky juice, having entire leaves, and no stipules. The calyx is usually 5-partite, persistent; the corolla hypogynous, monopeta lous, often with scales in its throat, regular, 5-lobed, twisted in bud. There are five stamens, which are inserted on the corolla; the anthers adhere firmly to the stigma, to which the pollen Is immediately applied; the anthers are 2-celled, and open longitudi nally; the pollen is granular. The ovaries are two, 'each 1-celled, or one which is 2-celled; ovules usually numerous; styles 1 or 2; the stigma is contracted in the middle, and peculiarly characteristic of the order. The fruit is a follicle or capsule, or drube or berry, double or single, The seeds have a fleshy or cartilaginous albumen, or (rarely) are cx-albuminons.—There are about 566 known species, chiefly natives of tropical countries. The PERIW/SKLE (q.v.) is its only representative in the flora of Britain, a wanderer, as it were, from the tropics, yet hardy enough for the climate with which it has to contend; the OLEANDER (q.y.) and a few others arc found in the s. of Europe.
Many species are poisonous; amongst which is the noted Tanghin(q.v.) or TANGITEENA of Madagascar. Some are used in medicine, in India and other countries. A number of species yield Caoutchouc (q.v.). The milk of others is bland and wholesome, as the liya Hya or Cow-tree (q.v.) of Demerara. Some are used in dyeing; Wrightia tincloria yields indigo of good quality.—A number yield eatable fruits, as lirillughbeia edulis and Carina atrandas in India; Larissa edulis in Arabia, and certain species of Carpodinus, called PISHAMIN in Sierra Leone, and Hanc,ornia.—Apocynum cannabinum, Canadian hemp, a herbaceous plant about 4 to 5 ft. in height, with unbranched stem, oblong leaves, and lateral cymes of whitish bell-shaped flowers, yields a very strong fiber, which the Indians of North America employ for making twine, cloth, fishing-nets, etc.