dogbane
any of several plants of the genus Apocynum, especially A. androsaemifolium, yielding an acrid milky juice and having an intensely bitter root.
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Origin of dogbane
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dogbane in a sentence
Vinca, ving′ka, n. a genus of woody herbaceous plants of the dogbane family, the periwinkles.
Allied to the milkweed is another plant, the dogbane (Apocynum), which has a similar trick of entrapping its insect friends.
My Studio Neighbors | William Hamilton GibsonApocynum androsmifolium (spreading dogbane), Kineo (Bradford).
The Maine Woods | Henry David ThoreauThe larva of this insect feeds on most of the different kinds of milkweed (Asclepias), and also upon dogbane (Apocynum).
New Zealand Moths and Butterflies | G. V. HudsonThe small pink flowers of the spreading dogbane may be found all through the summer, often upon our driest hillsides.
The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits | Mary Elizabeth Parsons
British Dictionary definitions for dogbane
/ (ˈdɒɡˌbeɪn) /
any of several North American apocynaceous plants of the genus Apocynum, esp A. androsaemifolium, having bell-shaped white or pink flowers: thought to be poisonous to dogs
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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