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Apocynum venetum

Common name:		Family:	Apocynaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	50, 200
Synonyms:	Trachomitum venetum ((L.)Woodson.), Apocynum sibiricum (Jacq.)
Known Hazards:	All parts of the plant are poisonous[1, 62].
Range:	S. Europe. N. Africa - Syria.
Habitat:	Swamps, wet places and maritime sands[1, 50].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. album var. hypericifolium[P] A. cannabinum[B,CPHOTO,CAL,CAL,E,G,H,HORTIPLEX,L,Sa,Sill,Smap,Sn3,P] A. cannabinum var. angustifolium[B,P] A. cannabinum var. glaberrimum[B,P] A. cannabinum var. greeneanum[B,P] A. cannabinum var. hypericifolium[B,P] A. cannabinum var. nemorale[B,P] A. cannabinum var. pubescens[B,P] A. cannabinum var. suksdorfii[B,P] A. hypericifolium[B,P] A. pubescens[B,P] A. sibiricum var. cordigerum[B,P] A. sibiricum var. farwellii[B,P] A. sibiricum var. salignum[B,P] A. suksdorfii[B,P] A. suksdorfii var. angustifolium[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American Hemp [H], Amyroot [H], Bitter Root [H,S], Black Indian Hemp [H], Bowman's Root [H], Canacian Hemp [H], Canadian Hemp [S], Canadian Hemp [S,H], Canadian Or Indian Hemp [S], Choctaw Root [H], Dogbane [E], Hemp, Canadian [S], Hint Keneviri [E], Indian Hemp [L], Indian Or Canada Hemp [S], Indian Physic [H], Indian-hemp [B], Indianhemp [P], Milkweed [H], Rheumatism Weed [H], Tse Ch'I [E], Wild Cotton [H],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Gentianales. Dogbane family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Turkey Us Us(Blackfoot) Us(Indian)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Nevada.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m by 1m . It is hardy to zone 4. It is in flower in August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Cardiotonic Diuretic Hypotensive.

The leaves or the whole herb is cardiotonic, diuretic and hypotensive[176, 218]. It is used in the treatment of hypertensive headache, dizziness, insomnia, irritability, oliguria and nephritic oedema[176]. It increases the renal blood flow and can be used for renal and cardiac oedema and ascites of liver cirrhosis[176].

Other Uses

Fibre.

The bark yields a fibre that is used for making twine, bags, linen etc[46, 61]. It can be harvested after the leaves fall in autumn but is probably at its best as the seed pods are forming[169].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in sun or shade in most well-drained but moisture-retentive soils[1, 200].
Plants can be invasive[200].
The flowers are attractive to bees.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in late summer and overwintered outdoors. The seed requires a period of cold stratification if it is to germinate well[238]. Prick out the seedlings when large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting out in late spring of the following year[K].
Division in spring just before active growth begins[200]. Plants can also be divided in the autumn[238].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Fiber Plants

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Apocynum cannabinum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Apocynaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[169] Buchanan. R. A Weavers Garden.
Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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