Apocynum androsaemifolium spreading dogbane Apocynaceae APAN; Bx, pb (DeCandido 2001); K, p; R (DeCandido 2001);

   

Apocynum androsaemifolium (Dogbane). Rock Creek. commons.wikimedia.org (Accessed 8/2017).

Apocynum androsaemifolium is a perennial herb to 80 cm tall; sap milky, acrid; colonial, stems often inclined, branched stems lack a central axis. 

Leaves opposite, oblong to egg-shaped, to 8 cm long pale, often hairy below. 

Flowers pinkish-white, radially symmetrical, 5-parted, tubular with spreading petal lobes, to 0.9 x 1 cm, fragrant; inflorescence of branched clusters, May-Aug. 

Apocynum androsaemifolium. By W.H. Wagner. Copyright © 2017 University of Michigan Herbarium. U. of Michigan Herbarium – herbarium.lsa.umich.edu (Accessed 8/2017)

Fruit dry, hollow pods in pairs, linear, to 20 cm long, splitting open to release plumed seeds, to 0.3 cm long, pointed at both ends; wind dispersed. 

Wetland status: UPL. 

Frequency in NYC: Very infrequent. 

Origin: Native. 

Habitat: Open, dry, woods, fields.