ASCLEPrADACE^. 308 ASCLEPIAS. 



1. V. MINOR. — .SY««s procumbent ; Zeavc5 elliptic-lanceolate, smooth at 

 the margins; _^o?oers pedunculate; se/;«Zs lanceolate. Native in Europe. A 

 handsome evergreen, flowering in May. Stems several feet in length, round, 

 smooth and leafy. Leaves opposite, smooth and shining, about an inch long. 

 Flowers solitary, axillary, alternate, violet, inodorous. Lesser Periwinkle. 



2. V. MAJOR. — Siems nearly erect; leaves ovate, cillate ; flowers ^e- 

 dunculate ; sepals setaceous, elongated. Native in Europe. Shrub, with 

 numerous, slender, straggling branches, very leafy, forming light masses of 

 evergreen foliage flourishing best beneath the shade of other plants. Leaves 



1 2 inches in length, rounded or somewhat cordate at base. Flowers blue, 



appearing in May and June. Greater Periwinkle. 



3. NE'RIUM. 

 Calyx with 5 teeth at the base outside of the corolla ; 

 corolla hypocraterifoim, segments contorted, orifice with a 

 corona consisting of 5, lasciniate leaflets ; filaments inserted 

 into the middle of the tube ; anthers sagittate, adhering to the 

 stigma by the middle. 



The ancient Greek name. Oriental shrubs. Lvs. evergreen. 



N. OlEa'NDER. — Leaves linear-lanceolate; sepals squarrose ; corona 

 flat, its segments 3-toothed. Native in S. Europe and the Levant. Stem 

 branched. Leaves 3 together, on short stalks, smooth, very entire, coriaceous, 

 with prominent, transveise veins beneath. Flowers terminal, corymbose, 

 large and beautiful, rose-colored. One variety has white flowers, another 

 variegated, and a third, double. This splendid shrub is common in Palestine, 

 growing by rivulets, »tc. It is commonly supposed by travellersto be the plant 

 to which the Psalmist alludes, Ps. 1 : 3, and 37 : 35. Rose Bay-tree. Oleander. 



ORDER CIV. ASCLEPlADACEiE. 



Cai.— Sepals .5, slightlv united, persistent. 



Cor. — Petals 5, iinited'at base, regular, deciduous, twisted-imbiicate in nestivation. 

 Sta. — 5, inserted inio the base of the corolla and alternate with its segments. 

 IT'i/.— Connate. Anth. 2-celled, cells sometimes nearly divided by partial septa. 

 Po/._When the anther bursts coliering in masses which are as many as the cells, or conflu- 

 ent into pairs and adhering to the 5 processes of the stigma either by '2s, by 4.s or singly. 

 Oi-a.— 2, styles 2, approximate, often very short. Stigmas united into 1, which is cemmon 



to both styles, and with 5 glandular angles. 

 Fr. — Follicles 2, one of them sometimes atjortive. 



Stis. — Numerous, pendulous, almost always comose at the hilum. Albumen thin. 

 Embryo straight. Cotyledons foliaceous. Radicle superior. 



Herbs or shrubs with milky juice. Leaves almost constantly opposite, entire, exstipu- 

 late. They are chiefly natives of tropical regions, and especially abundant in S. Africa, 

 S. India and New Holland, but are not uncommon in temperate regions. 



Properties. Similar to those of the Apocynacerc, but far less active. The juice is acrid 

 and stimulating, and generally to be, at least, suspected. A few of the species are medi- 

 cinal, but none of much consequence. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



( Segments of corona with 5 horns. . Asrlepias. 1 



(erect. Corolla reflexed. ( Segments of corona without horns. . Acfrate.'). 2 



climbing. Corolla rotate, petals flat, spreading Pcriploca. 3 



1. ASCLE'PIAS. 

 Calyx small ; petals united at base, reflexed ; corona (nec- 

 tary) 5-lobed, with 5, averted horns at the base of the lobes j 



