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Apocynaceae FAMILY

Apocynum cannabinum

Apocynum cannabinum

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

All parts of the plant are poisonous, though various reports differ, with some saying concentrations are low, whilst others say it is high[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. It contains the toxic cardioactive glycoside cymarin[7]. The plant is poisonous to all livestock, although domestic sheep are affected most. However, actual cases of livestock poisoning are rare[6].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

A plant of the temperate zone, where it is found at elevations up to 2,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 12 - 22°c, but can tolerate 6 - 30°c[8]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -35°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 0°c[8]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 1,200mm, but tolerates 150 - 1,500mm[8]. An easily grown plant, it prefers a sandy soil but will succeed in sun or quite deep shade in most well-drained moist soils[9, 10, 8]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 7, tolerating 4.5 - 8[8]. Plants spread freely at the roots, often producing new shoots at a considerable distance from the main clump, and can be invasive[11, 6]. Although the flowers are visited by a wide range of bees, wasps, flies, lepidoptera and other insects who feed on the nectar, it appears that these visits do not succeed in pollination. Successful transfer of pollen seems to occur only when the insect is trapped in the flower and struggles to escape, in turn collecting pollen[6] The young shoots of this plant are extremely attractive to slugs[PFAF]. Although top-growth is killed by fire, the rootstock usually survives and resprouts freely[6]. Hybridization is common within the genus Apocynum. This species commonly hybridizes with Apocynum androsaemifolium to produce Apocynum × medium Greene[6].

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[10]. Stored seed germinates better with no cold stratification, best germination rates occurred at 35°c[6]. 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[PFAF]. The seed has a fairly short viability, rarely lasting longer than 12 months in nature[1050. Division in spring just before active growth begins[11]. Plants can also be divided in the autumn[10]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Apocynum+cannabinum>

Pollinators

Bees, Lepidoptera

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  3. [3]Poisonous Plants. — Stary. F. · Hamlyn · 1983 · ISBN 0-600-35666-3 ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but easy reading.
  4. [4]A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. — Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. · Van Nostrand Reinhold · 1982 · ISBN 0442222009 ↩︎Very readable.
  5. [5]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  6. [6]Fire Effects Information System — http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ ↩︎An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
  7. [7]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  8. [8]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  9. [9]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  10. [10]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · 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.
  11. [11]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · 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.
  12. [12]Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. — Hitchcock. C. L. · University of Washington Press · 1955 · ISBN - ↩︎A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West. — Sweet. M. · Naturegraph Co. · 1962 · ISBN 0-911010-54-8 ↩︎Useful wild plants in Western N. America. A pocket guide.
  14. [14]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  15. [15]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · 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.
  16. [16]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  17. [17]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎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.
  18. [18]The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. — Coffey. T. · Facts on File. · 1993 · ISBN 0-8160-2624-6 ↩︎A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.
  19. [19]Earth Medicine, Earth Food. — Weiner. M. A. · Ballantine Books · 1980 · ISBN 0-449-90589-6 ↩︎A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.
  20. [20]Homeopathic Materia Medica — William Boericke, M.D. · http://www.homeoint.org/books/boericmm/index.htm ↩︎An on-line version of the book
  21. [21]Early Uses of Californian Plants. — Balls. E. K. · University of California Press · 1975 · ISBN 0-520-00072-2 ↩︎A nice readable book.
  22. [22]Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. — Saunders. C. F. · Dover Publications · 1976 · ISBN 0-486-23310-3 ↩︎Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.
  23. [23]Plant Fibres for Papermaking. — Bell. L. A. · Liliaceae Press · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎A good practical section on how to make paper on a small scale plus details of about 75 species (quite a few of them tropical) that can be used.
  24. [24]Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. — Turner. N. J. · British Columbia Provincial Museum · 1979 · ISBN 0-7718-8117-7 ↩︎Excellent and readable guide.
  25. [25]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  26. [26]Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. — Harrington. H. D. · University of New Mexico Press · 1967 · ISBN 0-8623-0343-9 ↩︎A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.
  27. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎