GENUS 3. 



MILKWEED FAMILY. 



3. Acerates floridana (Lam.) A. S. Hitchc. 

 Florida Milkweed. Fig. 3411. 



Asclepias floridana Lam. Encycl. I : 284. 1783. 

 Acerates longifolia Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1:317. 1817. 

 Acerates floridana A. S. Hitchc. Trans. St. Louis 

 Acad. 5 : 508. 1891. 



Rough-puberulent ; stems slender, simple or 

 little branched, erect or ascending, i-3 high. 

 Leaves mostly alternate, linear or rarely linear- 

 lanceolate, acute or acuminate, short-petioled, 

 2'-8' long, ii"-6" wide, commonly rough-cilio- 

 late on the margins and midrib; umbels several 

 or solitary, peduncled, usually many-flowered; 

 peduncles 3"-! 5" long; pedicels slender, hirsute, 

 i'-i' long; corolla greenish white, its segments 

 narrowly oblong, about 2" long; column short 

 but distinct ; hoods oblong, obtuse, entire, shorter 

 than the anthers ; anther-wings narrowed to the 

 base; follicles densely puberulent, 4'-$' long. 



Moist soil, Ohio to southern Ontario and Minne- 

 sota, North Carolina, Florida and Texas. June-Sept. 



4. Acerates auriculata Engelm. Auri- 

 cled Milkweed. Fig. 3412. 



Acerates auricitlata Engelm. Bot. Mex. Bound. 



Surv. 1 60. 1859. 

 Asclepias auriculata Holzinger, Bot. Gaz. 17 : 



125. 1892. 



Stem glabrous, often glaucous, sinuous 

 above, rarely branched below, usually stout, 

 i~3 high. Leaves mostly alternate, narrowly 

 l : near, glabrous, shprt-petioled, 3 '-8' long, 

 i"-2j" wide, becoming leathery, the rough 

 margins not revolute ; umbels commonly sev- 

 eral, densely many-flowered, pedr.ncled ; pe- 

 duncles 2"-i' long, pubescent ; pedicels slender, 

 pubescent ; flowers greenish white tinged with 

 dull purple ; corolla-segments oblong, 2"-2i" 

 long; column short, but distinct ; hoods yellow, 

 often with a purplish keel, entire, or emargi- 

 nately truncate at the apex, not exceeding the 

 anthers, the involute margins spreading at the 

 base into auricles; follicles 2'-3' long, curved. 



In dry soil, Nebraska and Colorado to Texas 

 and New Mexico. June-Sept. 



5. Acerates lanuginosa (Nutt.) Dec. 

 Woolly Milkweed. Fig. 3413. 



Asclepias lanuginosa Nutt. Gen. i : 168. 1818. 

 Acerates lanuginosa Dec. in DC. Prodr. 8 : 523. 1844. 



Hirsute all over ; stems erect, slender, simple, 

 6'-i8' high. Leaves oblong, ovate-lanceolate or 

 lanceolate, obtuse at the apex, narrowed or 

 rounded at the base, short-petioled, i'-4' long, 

 4"-i5" wide ; umbel solitary, terminal, densely 

 many-flowered, peduncled ; peduncle stout, densely 

 hirsute, J'-li long; pedicels slender, puberulent 

 or hirsute; corolla greenish, its segments oblong, 

 about 2j" long; column none; hoods purplish, 

 oblong, obtuse, entire, with a flat fold or auricle 

 on the infolded lower ventral margins, shorter 

 than the anthers ; anther-wings broadest below 

 the middle. 



On prairies, northern Illinois to Minnesota, Ne- 

 braska and Wyoming. June-Aug. 



