950 ASCLEPIADACEAE 
deflexed pedicels, 6-11 cm. long, obtuse, 1.5-2 em. wide, with or without soft spinous pro- 
jections : seeds 6 cm. long, broadly rounded at the apex : coma 3-3.5 em. long. 
In dry soil, Illinois and Kentucky to South Carolina, Texas and New Mexico. Spring and summer. 
3. Asclepiodora Feàyi Chapm. Stems erect, very slender, 2-4 dm. high, minutely 
puberulent in lines, or glabrous: leaves opposite, in 3-6 pairs ; blades linear-filiform, 3-10 
em. long, with revolute margins: umbels 2-3 at the summit of the stem, very short- 
peduncled, 3-6-flowered: pedicels about 12 mm. long, filiform, minutely puberulent : 
corolla globose-ovoid in bud ; lobes white, oblong-lanceolate, about 7 mm. long, acutish : 
hoods erect-spreading, shorter than the anther-column, white, concave, not down-curved at 
the rounded or obtuse apex : crest a semi-oval entire, fleshy fold or ridge attached to the 
thickened midrib within: anther-wings membranous above, corneous below, sagittate at 
the base: hood-appendages minutely and obscurely 2-lobed : follicles very slender, 3 em. 
long or more, long-acuminate. 
In pine lands, Florida. Spring to fall. 
8. METASTELMA R. Br. 
Slender twining perennial vines or woody climbers. Leaves opposite: blades narrow. 
Flowers very small, in sessile or very short-peduncled few-flowered cymes or umbels. 
Calyx-lobes 5, acutish or obtuse, with a gland in each sinus. Corolla rotately spreading 
or subeampanulate: lobes 5, commonly tomentose or retrorsely pubescent or puberulent 
along the apex within. Crown 5-parted, inserted at the base of the corolla or on the 
column at the base of the anthers, the lateral margins of the lobes not involute. Gynoste- 
gium sessile or raised on a column. Stigma flat. Follicles slender, acuminate, smooth. 
The plants flower mainly from spring to fall. 
Crown adnate to the corolla; lobes united at the base. 1. M. scoparium. 
Crown adnate to the column ; lobes very slender, incurved over the anthers. 
Crown adnate to the column and partly adnate to the base of the corolla: leaf- D 
blades linear or nearly so, thin: stems filiform. 2. M. Blodgettit. 
Crown adnate to the top of the column, entirely free from the base of the corolla. 
Flowers 2-several together in sessile or very short-peduncled cymes. s 
Corolla 3 mm. long: leaf-blades linear-lanceolate, 1-2.5 em. long, leathery. — 3. M. Palmeri. 
Corolla 4-5 mm. long : leaf-blades oblong, oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceo- : 
late, 2.5-5 em. long, thin. . M. barbigerum. 
Flowers in peduncled cymes: peduncles 5-10 em. long: leaf-blades oblong or 
round-oval. i 
ms 
. M. Bahamense. 
en 
1. Metastelma scopàrium (Nutt.) Vail. Stems filiform, from a ligneous base, much 
branched, diffuse and twining, becoming leafless : leaf-blades narrowly linear, thin, acute, 
2-5 cm. long: umbels sessile and few-flowered : calyx-lobes with a minute gland in each 
sinus : corolla 1-1.5 mm. long, greenish ; lobes narrowly lanceolate, acute, almost valvate 
in the bud : crown-lobes shorter than the anthers, manifestly united at the base, crenately 
9-lobed, the middle lobe the longest: pollinia pyriform, narrowed toward the apex, the 
caudicles very slender, the corpuscle narrow, spreading at the base: follicles 3.5-4.5 cm. 
long, linear, very slender, widely spreading, acute, few-seeded : seeds 7 mm. long, thin 
and rarely 1 mm. wide: coma 5-10 mm. long. 
In dry rich soil, South Carolina to eastern Florida. : 
2. Metastelma Blodgéttii A. Gray. Stems nearly glabrous, filiform, twining, 6 dm. 
long, or more : leaf-blades linear or nearly so, 9 mm. long, or more, rounded at the — 
tapering to the cuspidate apex, rather thick, with revolute margins and thick midvein : 
cymes 3-6-flowered : calyx-lobes subulate, less than 1 mm. long: corolla 2.5-3 mm. long, 
whitish, tinged with purple; lobes linear-lanceolate, acuminate, densely and retrorsely 
penicillate-bearded below the apex, and sparingly pubescent towards the base within : 
crown-lobes adnate to the base of the column and partly adnate to the corolla, ean 
subulate, very slender, erect, surpassing the anthers: anther-wings corneous, slightly 
salient at the angled base: pollinia inverted club-shaped, tapering to the broad-wing ri 
angled caudicles, the corpuscle oblong, obtuse at the obovate apex : follicles filiform, 4-9 
em. long, glabrous : seeds 3 mm. long, very narrow : coma 15 mm. long. 
In sandy soil, peninsular Florida and the Keys. 3 
3. Metastelma Pálmeri S. Wats. Stems glabrous, filiform : leaf-blades iarta 
late, acute and cuspidate at the apex, acute or obtuse at the base ; petioles 2-4 mm. s 
slender: cymes subsessile, 1-5-flowered : calyx-lobes ovate, acute: corolla dull purplish, 
3 mm. long ; lobes oblong-lanceolate with a whitish margin and minutely retroree-bearit 
within: crown-lobes adnate to the summit of the stout column, linear-subulate, slig p 
surpassing the anthers, obscurely decurrent on the column: anther-wings very smal: 
anther-tips nearly concealing the flattish stigma : follicles not seen. 
In dry soil, southern Texas and Mexico. 
