Genus 2. 



MILKWEED FAMILY. 



33 



2. ASCLEPIODORA A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 12: 66. 1876. 



Erect or decumbent perennial herbs, similar to Asclepias, with alternate or opposite 

 entire leaves, and rather large flowers in terminal solitary or corymbed umbels. Sepals lan- 

 ceolate. Corolla rotate, its segments spreading. Hoods oblong, inserted over the whole of 

 tile very short corona-column, curved upward, obtuse, crested within, at least in the upper 

 part, slightly longer than the anther ; at the sinuses between the hoods a small lobe or 

 appendage, alternate with the anther-wings, simulating an inner crown. Anthers tipped with 

 a scarious membrane, their wings horny, narrowed below, sometimes angled above the middle. 

 Pollen-masses pendulous, pyriform, longer than their caudicles. Follicles ovoid or oblong, 

 acuminate, with or without soft spinose processes, erect or ascending on the decurved or 

 twice bent fruiting pedicels. Seeds comose. [Greek, gift of Aesculapius.] 



Five or six species, natives of the southern United States and Mexico. Type species : Asclepio- 

 dora viridis (Walt.) A. Gray. 



Glabrous or nearly so ; leaves oblong to ovate-lanceolate ; umbels corymbose. 1 1. A. viridis. 

 Stem rough-puberulent ; leaves lanceolate or linear, acuminate ; umbels solitary. 2. A. decumbens. 



i. Asclepiodora viridis (Walt.) A. Gray. 

 Oblong-leaved Milkweed. Fig. 3407. 



Asclepias viridis Walt. Fl. Car. 107. 1788. 



Asclepiodora viridis A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 12 : 

 66. 1876. 



Stem erect, puberulent above, simple, l e -2 

 high. Leaves oblong to ovate-lanceolate, rather 

 thin, obtuse and mucronulate or acute at the 

 apex, narrowed or rounded at the base, short- 

 petioled, 2j'-s' long, A'-iJ' wide; umbels 2-4, 

 or sometimes solitary; peduncles li'-2' long; 

 pedicels slender, about i' long; corolla green- 

 ish, its segments, when expanded, oblong, ob- 

 tuse or acute, 4"-6" long, 2-3 times as long as 

 the purplish or violet entire-margined hoods; 

 anther-wings narrow, scarcely angled above ; 

 fruiting pedicels twice bent; follicles ascend- 

 ing, puberulent, 2'-$ long, sometimes with soft 

 spinose projections. 



In dry soil, Illinois to Kansas, Texas, South 

 Carolina and Florida. May-July. 



2. Asclepiodora decumbens (Nutt.) 



A. Gray. Decumbent Milkweed. 



Fig. 3408. 



Ananthrix decumbens Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. 



Soc. (II.) 5: 202. 1833-37. 

 Asclepiodora decumbens A. Gray, Proc. Am. 



Acad. 12 : 66. 1876. 



Stems decumbent or ascending, rough- 

 puberulent, io'-2 long. Leaves firm, linear 

 to lanceolate, glabrous above, puberulent <m 

 the veins beneath, acuminate at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base, 3' 7' long, 2"-8" 

 wide; umbel solitary, many-flowered; pe- 

 duncle l'-S' long; pedicels stout, l'-l' long; 

 corolla depressed-globose in the bud, green- 

 ish, its segments, when expanded, ovate or 

 broadly oval, longer than the hoods ; hoods 

 purple, obtusely 3-Iobed on the ventral 

 margins, about 3" long, their tips incurved; 

 anther-wings broad, angled above; follicles 

 nearly erect on the recurved fruited pedi- 

 cels, 3'-4' long, puberulent, at least when 

 young, with or without soft projections. 



In dry soil, Kansas to Texas and Mexico, 

 west to Utah and Arizona. April-June. 



