noun
chiefly tropical trees or shrubs or herbs having milky juice and often showy flowers; many are sources of drugs
• Syn: ↑Apocynaceae, ↑family Apocynaceae
• Hypernyms: ↑dicot family, ↑magnoliopsid family
• Member Holonyms: ↑Gentianales, ↑order Gentianales
• Member Meronyms:
↑Apocynum, ↑genus Apocynum, ↑Acocanthera, ↑genus Acocanthera, ↑Acokanthera, ↑genus Acokanthera, ↑Adenium, ↑genus Adenium, ↑genus Allamanda, ↑Alstonia, ↑genus Alstonia, ↑Amsonia, ↑genus Amsonia, ↑Beaumontia, ↑genus Beaumontia, ↑genus Carissa, ↑Catharanthus, ↑genus Catharanthus, ↑Holarrhena, ↑genus Holarrhena, ↑Mandevilla, ↑genus Mandevilla, ↑Dipladenia, ↑genus Dipladenia, ↑Nerium, ↑genus Nerium, ↑Plumeria, ↑genus Plumeria, ↑Plumiera, ↑genus Rauwolfia, ↑genus Rauvolfia, ↑genus Strophanthus, ↑Tabernaemontana, ↑genus Tabernaemontana, ↑Thevetia, ↑genus Thevetia, ↑Trachelospermum, ↑genus Trachelospermum, ↑Vinca, ↑genus Vinca
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noun* * *
the plant family Apocynaceae, characterized by shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants having milky and often poisonous juice, simple opposite leaves, often showy flowers, and fruit usually in dry pods, and including the dogbane, oleander, periwinkle, and plumeria.
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dogbane family,
a group of dicotyledonous, mainly tropical herbs, shrubs, and trees, having a milky juice. The family includes many poisonous plants as well as others, such as the periwinkle and oleander, that are cultivated for ornament.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.