This species is treated here in its wider sense, as per the Kew on-line 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families '[].

Common Name:

General Information

Apocynum venetum is an erect, herbaceous, perennial plant with stems that can grow up to 4 metres tall growing from a spreading rhizomatous rootstock[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of fibre and latex. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental, valued for its fragrant flowers that attract bees to the garden[].

Known Hazards

All parts of the plant are poisonous[, ].

Botanical References

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Range

Southeast Europe - Italy, Bulgaria and Ukraine; Asia - from Turkey and the Caucasus to Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Japan,Korea

Habitat

Swamps, wet places and maritime sands[, ]. Salt-barren zone, desert margins, alluvial flats, riversides[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.50 m
Pollinators	Bees, Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

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

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

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

The leaves yield up to 5% of a gum (latex?), which is used for making a medicine that is used as a sedative and to treat hypertension[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The fragrant flowers are a good source of honey for bees[].

Other Uses

The bark yields a fibre that is used for making twine, bags, linen etc[, , ]. It can be harvested after the leaves fall in autumn but is probably at its best as the seed pods are forming[]. The fibre can be quite difficult to extract[].
The strong bast fibers obtained from the inner bark are used in making cloth, strings, sails, fishing nests, and high-quality paper[].

The leaves yield up to 5% gum (latex?), which is used for making rubber[]. It is not available in commercial quantities[].

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[]. 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[].
Division in spring just before active growth begins[]. Plants can also be divided in the autumn[].