Spreading Dogbane
Apocynum androsaemifolium L. Description: Spreading Dogbane is a native, perennial herbaceous plant in the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae). Stems, which are often from spreading rhizomes, are erect or ascending, 8”-20” tall, smooth, often reddish, and forked (dichotomously branched) into equal parts. Stems contain a white, milky sap. Leaves are borne on stalks (petiolate), are drooping, egg-shaped to oblong lance-shaped, and 1”-4” long. They are smooth to sparsely hairy above and sparsely hairy to densely hairy with short soft hairs below. Flowers are borne at stem tips and leaf axils in fewflowered, showy clusters (cymes). White to pink flower petals (the corolla) are joined to be bell-shaped or tubular and are small. The sepals at the base of the tube- or bell-shaped corolla are egg-shaped to lance-shaped and only about ⅓ the length of the corolla. Flowering occurs from June to September. Erect or drooping fruits (follicles) are dry and split open on one side at maturity. Distribution and Habitat: Spreading Dogbane is found in oak, maple, aspen, sagebrush, ponderosa pine, and spruce-fir communities at elevations from 4,900’11,000’ in Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington, Wayne, and Weber counties as well as across Canada and the continental U.S. with the exceptions of Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and South Carolina. General Information: Dogbanes contain toxins, a resin, apocynin, and 2 know glycosides, cymarin and apocynein. Poisoning is rare since livestock do not eat the plants readily. There is a great deal of variation in size of plants and plant parts.
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APOCYNACEAE
APAN2