78 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
as hedges, others produce drugs, and still others yield rub- 
ber. A number of them contain a poison in the milky sap 
which is used to some extent as a fish poison. 
Another family which contains succulent desert species, 
but which is only very distantly related to the two previously 
mentioned ones, is that of the asclepiads, succulent forms of 
which occur in the arid regions of Africa. The brilliantly 
colored flowers of green, yellow, or purple usually have a 
putrid odor and it is for this reason that they have been 
termed “carrion flowers.” In this group, again, the fleshy 
stems and reduced or obsolete leaves are evident, though, as_ 
in the preceding groups, there are a few instances in which 
the foliage is fleshy. Conspicuous among the asclepiads are 
the stapelias. These have low-growing leafless stems, ap- 
ergo: the size of a man’s finger, which grow in clusters. 
hey are sometimes called “finger cacti,” and again, “star 
cacti,” the latter name referring to the flowers, which are in 
the shape of a five-pointed star. The term cactus, of course, 
is not applicable here, but it serves to indicate how iohetg of 
similar in form these various desert plants are, though 
longing to such widely separated families. One of the most 
interesting of these asclepiads in the Garden collection is 
the parachute plant (Ceropegia hybrida), several good speci- 
mens of which are at present in flower. Of especial interest 
are the curiously shaped, greenish, parachute-like flowers to 
which the plant owes its name. Another species, Ceropegia 
stapeliaeformis, with dark-brown flowers, is also in flower. 
In the latter, however, the resemblance to a parachute is not 
so striking. 
_Of the other great group of succulent desert plants, those 
with relatively small stems and thick, fleshy leaves, probably 
the most gigantic representatives are to be found among the 
agaves, or “century plants.” In most of the many forms of 
this genus the stem serves merely as a point of attachment 
for the very fleshy, water-storing, and drought-resisting 
leaves. This family is strictly indigenous to the New World, 
extending from southwestern United States to the highlands 
of Bolivia. Its members are most abundant in Mexico where 
they play a considerable role in the life of the native, furnish- 
ing him with food, drink, clothing, and shelter. ‘“Pulque,” 
the milder beverage of the Mexican, and “mescal’” and 
“tequila,” the stronger ones, are made from some of these 
plants. Others produce good grades of fiber which is manu- 
factured into various kinds of cordage and coarse cloth. 
_ It may be well to state here that the name century plant 
is misleading in that it is highly improbable that any of 
