Dogbane (Apocynum)

..... lvs petiolate; us. hairy beneath; lvs drooping lvs short petioled; glabrous or hairy; lvs erect or ascending lvs sessile or shor petioled; us glabrous beneath
1)cor 6-10, purplish pale pink, striped inside with deep rose; fragrant flowers spreading d.b. (1.androsaemifolium) shrublike; ruddy stems; upland woods, occ in fields & roadsides; NF to GA ..... .....
1)cor 3-6mm, white or greenish-white or yellowish, w/ erect or sl divergent lobes ..... ..... .....
flowers less showy ..... Indian hemp or hemp d.b. (2.cannabinu) open places; NY to FL clasping d.b. (3.sibiricum) open places; NF to NJ & WV
fls often white, pink sometimes ..... intermediate d.b. (x florbidundum) hybrids between #1 & #2/#3 .....

Kalm. 9/29/1748. Instead of flax several people made use of a kind of dog's bane, or Linee's Apocynum cannabinum. The people prepared the stalks of this plant in the same manner as we prepare those of hemp or flax. It was spun and several kinds of stuffs were woven from it. The savages are said to have had the art of making bags, fishing nets and the like from it for many centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. P. 70

Kalm. 4/0/1749. Apocynum cannabinum was by the Swedes called Indian hemp (wild hemp), and grew plentifully in old grain grounds, in woods, on hills, and in high glades. The Swedes have given it the name Indian hemp, because the Indians formerly and even now apply it to the same purposes as the Europeans do hemp; for the stalk may be divided into filaments, and is easily prepared. When the Indians were still living among the Swedes, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, they made ropes of this Apocynum, which the Swedes bought, and used them as bridles, and for nets. These ropes were stronger and kept longer in water than such as were made of common hemp. . . . The Indians also make several other articles of their hemp, such as various sizes of bags, pouches, quilts and linings. P. 277.

Kalm. 7/11/1749. The Apocynum androsaemifolium grows in abundance on hills covered with trees, and is in full flower about this time. The French call it Herbe a la puce. When the stalk is cut or torn, a white milky juice comes out. The French attribute the same qualities to this plant as the poison tree, or Rhus vernix, has in the English colonies; that its poison is noxious to some persons and harmless to others. The milky juice, when spread upon the hands and body, has no bad effect on some persons, whereas others cannot come near it without being blistered. I saw a soldier whose hands were blistered all over, merely by plucking the plant in order to show it me; and it is said its exhalations affect some people, when they come within reach of them. It is generally allowed here that the lactescent juice of this plant, when spread on any part of the human body not only swells the part but frequently corrodes the skin, at least there are few examples of persons on who it had no effect. As for my part, it has never hurt me, though in the presence of several people I touched the plant and rubbed my hands with the juice till they were white all over, and I have often rubbed the plant in my hands till it was quite crushed without feeling the least inconvenience or change on my hand. Cattle never touch this plant. P 386-387.