Plant · P-973

Dogbane

Apocynum cannabinum

Dogbane is a colony-forming wetland perennial grown for its bark, which yields one of the strongest plant fibres in North America - twisted into cordage and twine by native peoples for centuries and still rated among the best bast fibres for strength. Bees and other pollinators swarm its flowers, though monarch butterflies that lay eggs on it are laying a trap: the caterpillars cannot survive on it. Every part of the plant is highly toxic if eaten, with a lethal dose small enough to matter for livestock even in dried hay, so it needs to be kept well clear of pasture and hayfields. Its horizontal rhizomes spread aggressively and root many feet down, which is exactly what makes repeat fibre harvests possible from one planting, but it needs a mowed or grazed margin to keep it from taking over the ground around it.