Genus 6. 



MILKWEED FAMILY. 



39 



6. Vinceoxicum Snortii (A. Gray) Britton. Short's Yincetoxicum. Fig. 3421. 



Gonolohus obliquus var. Shortii A. Gray, Syn. Fl. 2 : 



Part 1, 104. 1878. 

 G. Shortii A. Gray, loc. cit. Ed. 2, 404. 1886. 

 V, Shortii Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 266. 1894. 



Stem pubescent, or hirsute with spreading 

 hairs. Leaves downy, broadly ovate, acute or 

 short-acuminate at the apex, deeply cordate at 

 the base and when old with a narrow or closed 

 sinus, 4'-/' long, li'-si' wide; petioles stout, 

 pubescent, I J' 3' long; peduncles usually longer 

 than the petioles ; umbels several-flowered ; pedi- 

 cels 1' long or more; corolla oblong-conic in 

 the bud, dark crimson-purple, its lobes linear, 

 S"-7" long, 5-7 times as long as the hirsute 

 calyx ; crown cup-shaped, fleshy, as high as the 

 anthers, its margin about 10-toothed, the alter- 

 nate teeth thinner and longer, emarginate or 

 2-parted, the others broader, thicker, with an 

 obscure internal crest or ridge below the sum- 

 mit; follicles warty. 



In thickets, Pennsylvania to eastern Kentucky 

 and Georgia. Flowers with the odor of the straw- 

 berry-shrub. June-Aug. 



7. Vincetoxicum Baldwinianum (Sweet) Britton. Baldwin's Yincetoxicum. 



Fig. 3422. 



Gonolobus Baldwinianus Sweet; A. Gray, Syn. Fl. 2: 



Part 1, 104. 1876. 

 Vincetoxicum Baldwinianum Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 



5: 265. 1894. 



Stem pubescent and hirsute. Leaves downy, broadly 

 ovate, acute, or short-acuminate at the apex, deeply 

 cordate at the base, 3 '-6' long, or more; petioles hir- 

 sute, 1/-2' long; peduncles 6"-l2" long, usually longer 

 than the pedicels; umbels several-many-flowered ; 

 corolla white or cream-color, the lobes thin, oblong, 

 or becoming spatulate, 4"-s" long ; crown thin, the 5 

 broader lobes quadrate, emarginate, or obscurely 

 toothed ; in their sinuses a pair of very slender 

 linear-subulate teeth of more than double their 

 length, much surpassing the stigma. 



Missouri and Arkansas to Georgia. May-June, 



Periploca graeca L., silk-vine, a handsome woody 

 climber, with glabrous ovate-oblong leaves and brown- 

 ish flowers in umbels, the obtuse corolla-segments vil- 

 lous on the inner side has been collected as an escape 

 from cultivation. 



Family 19. DICHONDRACEAE Dumort. Anal. Fam. 20, 25. 1829. 



Dichoxdra Family. 

 Consists only of the following genus : 



1. DICHONDRA Forst. Char. Gen. PI. 39. pi. 40. 1776. 



Prostrate or creeping slender annual (sometimes perennial?) silky-pubescent or glabrous 

 herbs, with nearly orbicular cordate or reniform petioled entire leaves, and very small soli- 

 tary axillary peduncled flowers. Sepals nearly equal, oblong or spatulate. Corolla open- 

 campanulate, deeply 5-parted, the lobes induplicate in the bud. Stamens shorter than the 

 corolla; filaments filiform. Ovary villous, deeply 2-parted. each lobe 2-celled ; styles 2, simple, 

 arising from the bases of the ovary-lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit of 2 pubescent 2-valved 

 or indehiscent 1-2-seeded capsules. [Greek, two-grained, referring to the capsules.] 



About 5 species, natives of warm and tropical regions. Besides the following, another occurs 

 in the southwest. Type species : Dichondra rcfens Forst. 



