944 ASCLEPIADACEAE 
seeds about 8 mm. long, marked by fine broken diverging ridges, the paler margin cori- 
aceous and much wrinkled: coma 3 em. long. [A. amplexicaulis Michx.] 
In dry sandy soil, North Carolina to Florida. Spring and early summer. 
7. Asclepias Syriaca L. Stems canescently tomentose, becoming glabrate in age 
from a horizontal or branching rootstock, 5 dm.-1.5 m. high: leaf-blades short-petioled, 
typically oblong, or rarely lanceolate-oblong, 1-1.5 dm. long, 4-11 cm. wide, truncate, 
rounded or sometimes tapering at the base, commonly obtuse, sometimes mucronate at the 
apex, green and glabrate or nearly so above, soft-pubescent or tomentulose beneath : umbels 
usually several, lateral, many-flowered : peduncles 4-8 cm. long: corolla-lobes dull green- 
ish purple, 8 mm. long, puberulous on the outside, and sometimes minutely so on the inner 
surface: column very short: hoods whitish or dull greenish purple, erect, longer than the 
anthers, ovate, obtuse or rounded, with an upcurved tooth or auricle on each side below the 
middle: horn short, subulate, inflexed over the anthers: anther-wings notched or cornicu- 
late at the spreading base: follicles 7-9 cm. long, ovate, ventricose, tomentose, mostly 
erect on recurving pedicels: seeds 7 mm. long, glabrous, the wing-like margin wrinkled, 
paler than the body : coma very abundant, 3 cm. long. [A. Cornu't Decne. ] 
In fields and waste places, New Brunswick to Saskatchewan, Georgia and Kansas. Summer. 
8. Asclepias purpuráscens L. Stems glabrous or somewhat tomentulose, stout, 
3-10 dm. high or more: leaf-blades typically ovate-oblong, 1-2 dm. long, truncate or 
obscurely tapering to the short petiole, mostly acutish or mucronate at the apex, rather 
thin, glabrous above, tomentulose and sometimes becoming glabrate beneath : umbels 
short-peduncled, 2-5, cymosely terminal or sometimes 1-2 in the upper axils: corolla-lobes 
dark or dull purple, oblong, obtuse, 8-10 mm. long: column very short: hoods shorter 
than the corolla-lobes, twice as high as the anthers, pale reddish or purple, erect, oblong, 
with an obscure rounded lobe near the middle of each ventral margin : horn short, in- 
curved, exserted over the stigmas: anther-wings very short and sharply salient, entire or 
minutely notched at the base: follicles erect on recurving pedicels, 10-12 cm. long, atten- 
uated at the apex, tomentulose: seeds 7 mm. long, minutely granulose, marked with diverg- 
ing broken lines, the margin very thin and brittle: coma 3-4 cm. long. 
In dry grounds, New England to Wisconsin, Tennessee and North Carolina. Summer. 
9. Asclepias tomentósa Ell. Stems tomentulose or soft-pubescent, erect, simple or 
rarely branched, 3-9 dm. high or more: leaves numerous, often crowded, much decreased 
in size at the summit of the stem; blades mainly oblong-elliptic, 5-8 cm. long, acute or 
acutish at each end, rather thick and rigid, glabrate or minutely pubescent above, tomen- 
tulose beneath: umbels numerous, sessile or short-peduncled, loosely many-flowered, 
crowded in axils of the upper leaves: pedicels 2-2.5 cm. long, tomentulose : corolla-lobes 
greenish, broadly ovate, acute, scarious-margined, 7-8 mm. long: hoods sessile or nearly 
so, not exceeding the anthers, truncate at the summit, slightly gibbous at the base on the 
outside, laterally compressed, the wing-like ventral margins obtuse or acutish, glabrous or 
rarely somewhat pubescent: horn broadly subulate, adnate below the apex of the hood, 
notched below the slender acuminate erect apex, which is exserted for about a third its 
length: anther-wings entire or obscurely notched: follicles about 12 cm. long, erect on 
recurving pedicels, slender, tapering to each end, tomentulose : seeds 6-7 mm. long, thin: 
coma 3-4 cm. long. 
In dry sandy soil and high pine lands, Georgia and Florida. Spring and summer. 
10. Ascelpias aceratoides M. A. Curtis. Stems tomentulose, simple, erect, 33 cm. 
high or more, from a long horizontal rootstock: leaves few ; blades 7-10 cm. long, ob- 
lanceolate, obtuse and mucronulate at the apex, tapering at the base, the tranavarpe Hm 
somewhat ascending: umbels 2-several, loosely many-flowered, sessile or nearly so in the 
upper axils: pedicels tomentulose, 2.5 cm. long: corolla-lobes greenish, 7 mm. 2 
broadly oblong, acute, scarious-margined : hoods erect or nearly so on the very § i 
column, slightly gibbous at the base, obliquely truncate at the summit, laterally per sare , 
minutely tomentulose, not exceeding the anthers: horn granulose, broadly pir ar, 
straight along the top, the apex acute, horizontally exserted a little beyond the bris 
wing-like ventral angles of the hood : anther-wings entire at the broad angled base : folit 
cles not seen. 
In sandy pine woods, North Carolina and South Carolina. Spring. 
11. Ascelpias variegàta L. Stems glabrous, or minutely pubescent above, 3-9 dm. 
high, erect from a ligneous rootstock : leaves in 3-7 pairs, the middle pairs rarely bein, 
in 4^ ; blades typically oval, sometimes ovate or oblong, or obovate, 6-14 cm. iua 
