Apocynaceae

  • Family

    Apocynaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Apocynaceae

  • Common Names

    Dogbane Family

  • Description

    Number of genera: 200

    Number of species: 2,000

    Description (from PLANTAE): Trees, shrubs, herbs, very often lianas, sometimes succulents, glabrous or with various kinds of trichomes. Leaves opposite or sometimes verticillate, rarely alternate, simple, entire or rarely lobed or dentate; stupules wanting or rarely small or interpetiolar or vestigal. Flowers in cymose or racemose infloresecences, or solitary, bisexual or very rarely functionally unisexual, actinomorphic or nearly so, commonly 5-merous. Sepals (4)5, more or less connate, imbricate or valvate. Corolla sympetalous, lobes contorted or rarely imbricate or valvate. Stamens as many as and alternate with the corolla lobes, inserted on the corolla tube, free or more often connate; anthers free or more or less closely coherent or connate around the style head, basifiex or (some Apocynaceae) dorsifiexed , tetrasporanginate or disporangiate, introrse, opening longitudinally or apically. Gynoecium of 2(-8) carpels, these connate in varying degrees; ovary superior to inferior, with 2-many ovules. Ovules commonly pendulous, anatropous, amphitrpous, or hemitropous, very rarely orthotropous, unitegmic, tenuinucellate, with or withour endothelium. Furits of diverse types. Seeds exotestal, often with a terminal coma of long hairs, with straight embryo and oily, copious to scanty endosperm

    Taxonomic notes (from PLANTAE): Closely related to the Gentianales, especially to the Geniostomaceae (Takhtajan, 1997). The maintainence of the Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae as distinct families is increasingly recognized as artificial. Traditionally construct based on of the androecium and gynoecium which show a continuous range of variation from the Plumerioideae in the Apocynaceae s.str. through the Periplocoideae and Secamoneae into the Asclepiadaceae (Cronquist, 1988). Preservation of monophylly requires that the family be expanded to encompass all the descendents of the most recent common ancestor of the group. follows most modern interpretations of the group which combine the Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae into one family. "There is a fairly straight-line evolutionary series in floral morphology within the Apocynaceae and Asclepiadacae collectively, from the Plumerioideae ot the Apocynoideae to the Periplocoideae to the Secamoneae and thence to the other tribes of the Asclepiadoideae." (Cronquist, 1981)

    Distribution (from PLANTAE): This family is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, with relatively few genera and species in temperate climates.

    Chemistry notes (from PLANTAE): Often producing various types of iridoid compounds and commonly also cardiotonic glycosides and diverse types of alkaloids.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Apocynaceae: [Book] Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.