CYNANCHUM, BASTARD DOGSBANE: A genus of the digynia order, belonging to the pentandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 30th order, Contorta. The nectarium is cylindrical and quinquedentated. There are six species; of which the following are the most remarkable. 1. The acutum, commonly called Montpelier scammony; and, 2. The monspeliacum, or round-leaved Montpelier scammony. They abound with a milky juice like the spurge, which issues out wherever they are broken; and this milky juice when concreted has frequently been sold for scammony. These plants propagate fast by their creeping roots, that few people care to admit them into gardens.