ASCLEPIADE.E. 417 



March's Jamaica collection as an introduced plant. By its Echiles-like habit and powdery 

 pollen it connects Asclepiadece with the foregoing Order. 



1. METASTELMA, R. Br. 



Calyx 5-leaved. Corolla small, shortly campanulate, valvate: crown 5-leavcd, either in- 

 serted into the corolla-throat and decurrent into the angles of the column or into the column 

 below the anthers and decurreut into the corolla-base. Pollinaria hanging from the base of 

 the gland. Stigma depressed. Follicles smooth : seeds comose. — Slender, suffruticose 

 climbers ; umbels few-Jlowered ; corolla- lobes usually puberulous within. 



Sect. 1. Eumetastklma. — Crown inserted into the corolla. 



1. IKE. parviflorum, R. Br. Glabrescent ; leaves ovate-oblong or oblong', mucronatc- 

 blunt ; umbels sessile ; corolla-lobes linear-oblong, exceeding the crown, twice as long as 

 the tube : crown-leaflets linear, twice as long as the subsessile column. — Cynanchum, Sw. — 

 Leaves 8"'-16'", white corolla 1'" long. — Hab. Jamaica!, Pd., March, in hedges; Antigua !, 

 Nichols.; Trinidad (Sieb.) ; [Haiti to Venezuela! and New Granada!]. 



2. 91. albiflorum, Or. («. sp.). Branchlets and pedicels pubcrulous or glabrate; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, pointed-mucronate ; umbels subsessile or their peduncle 

 shorter than the petiole; corolla-lobes oblong-linear, twice as long as the tube and the 

 crown; crown-leaflets linear, equalling the subsessile column. — Leaves 6'"— 10'", petioles 

 l'"-2'", peduncles 1"' long (or none) ; pedicels l'"-2'", corolla 1'" long. — Hab. Jamaica !, 

 March; [S. Thomas!]. 



3. M. Schlechtendalii, Decs. Branchlets and pedicels pubcrulous or glabrate ; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, pointed-mucronate ; umbels peduncled : peduncle equalling or exceeding 

 the petiole ; corolla-lobes oblong-linear, twice as long as the tube and the crown : crown- 

 leaflets linear, equalling the stipitate column : column-stalk as long as the anthers. — 

 Leaves 6"'-12'", peduncles 4"'-6'", pedicels 2"', corolla 1'" long.— Hab. Jamaica!, Pd.; 

 [Caribbean Islands I ; Mexico ! to Venezuela !]. 



4. M. Par alias, Decs. Glabrescent ; leaves ovate, cuspidate-mucronate ; umbels ses- 

 sile ; corolla-lobes oblong-linear, twice as long as the tube, exceeding the crown ; crown- 

 leaflets linear, equalling the long-stipilate column : column dilated above, stalk about thrice 

 as long as the anthers. — Leaves 8'"— 16"', pedicels 2'", corolla 1'" long. — Hab. Antigua!, 

 Wullschl.; Trinidad !, Or. ; [S. Martin, Guadeloupe !]. 



5. M. suberosum, Or. Puberulous or glabrate ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, mueronulate- 

 pointed; umbels peduncled or subsessile; corolla-lobes linear-oblong, puberulous within at 

 the thickish margin, twice as long as the urceolate tube, exceeding the crown ; crotcn-leaflets 

 linear, exceeding the long-stipitate column : column dilated above, stalk six times as long 

 as the anthers. — Orthosia, spec. Desc. in lib. Hook. — Flowers twice as long as in all the pre- 

 ceding species. Leaves 1", peduncles l'"-3'", pedicels l"'-2'" long ; sepals ovate, half as 

 long as the ovoid corolla-tube ; corolla 2'" long : lobes one-third longer than the crown : 

 crown-leaflets flat, inserted between them, decurrent along the corolla-tube into the dilated 

 base of the column ; column slender, \\'" long ; follicles linear-acuminate, 1£" long — Hab. 

 Dominica !, Imr. ; Trinidad !, Lockh., in dry gravelly soil ; [Venezuela]. 



Sect. 2. Epicion. — Crown, inserted below the anthers into the column. 



6. M. cubense, Decs. Glabrous ; leaves oval or oval-roundish, mucronate ; peduncles 

 short, 2-3-flowered ; corolla-lobes ovate-oblong, pointed, glabrous within the induplicate 

 margin, thrice as long as the ovate tube, twice as long as the column ; crown-leaflets lan- 

 ceolate, internally keeled, including the anthers, decurrent along the column into the keels 

 of the corolla-tube ; column cylindrical, stalk thickish, four times as long as the anthers. — 

 Leaves 12"'-6'", peduncles 2"', pedicels 2''', flowers 2i'" long; sepals ovate, blunt, half as 

 lon^ as the corolla-tube. — Hab. Bahamas !, Swains. ; [Cuba]. 



2. AMPHISTELMA, Gr. 

 (Vincetoxicum, sp. american., Decs.) 



Calyx 5-leaved. Corolla small, rotate, 5-partite, slightly contorted : crown 5-leaved or 



