: : ~ 
245 Asclepidas tuberosa. 
dom; and the A. tuberosa, is, perhaps, one of the most elegant 
plants of our country. 
The root is large, and somewhat irregularly tuberous, sending 
up many erect, and sometimes decumbent hairy stems, branching 
at the top. The stems are round, very hairy, and of a reddish 
colour. The leaves are scattered, and supported. on petioles little 
more than the eighth of an inch in length ; varying in being lanceo- 
late-oval, long-oval, lanceolate, and in- the variety 2 decumbens, 
linear-lanceolate, and repand on the margin. They are of a deep 
_ rich green above, much paler underneath, and very hairy. The um- 
bels are terminal and somewhat in the form of a corymb ; in the va- 
riety * they are lateral. The bracteal involucre is composed of 
numerous narrow-linear, nearly subulate membranaceous leaves, of 
asalmon colour. The flowers are situated in terminal corymbose 
umbels, and are of a brilliant reddish-orange colour. The fruit is 
along narrow roundish pod, pointed at each end: and the seeds, 
like the. rest. of the genus, 3 are furnished with a long silky appen- 
dage. » The: plant continues for a long time in bloom, at which time 
its rich” green leaves ¢ contras ed with its gorgeous inflorescence, 
render it an Sa eeeal” avourite. Its geographical distribution is 
extensive, being found from the northern states to the southern 
boundary of the Union ; but it is most abundant in the Carolinas 
and Georgia. In the neighbourhood of Philadelphia it is somewhat 
rare 5 3 but i is. | more e frequent in Jersey. It ‘is generally found in 
dae cae S 
