962 ASCLEPIADACEJ.  (MILKWEED FAMILY.) 
l1. ASCLEPIAS, L. Mitxwerp. SirLkwEEp. 
Calyx 5-parted. Corolla wheel-shaped, deeply 5-parted, reflexed. Crown — 
composed of 5 hooded leaves; each containing an incurved horn-like appendage. - 
Pollen-masses 10, by pairs, each pair occupying the contiguous cells of adjacent — 
anthers, and suspended by a slender stalk from the projecting angles of the stigma. — 
Follicle many-seeded. Seeds obovate, flat, usually comose. — Perennial herbs, 
with mostly simple (not twining) stems, and opposite alternate or whorled leaves. 
Flowers in lateral (between the leaves) and terminal umbels. 
"$1. Stems herbaceous : seeds comose. 
* Follicles spiny: leaves opposite. ats 
1. A. Cornuti, Decaisne. Softly pubescent; stem stout, erect, obscurely — 
4-angled ; leaves oval-oblong, short-petioled, mucronate, soon smooth above, the — 
lowest somewhat cordate; umbels numerous, many-flowered, long-peduncled; - 
corolla greenish-purple, one fourth as long as the pedicels; leaves of the crown — 
pale purple, ovate, obtuse, longer than the incurved horn; follicle ovate-oblong, - 
woolly, armed with soft spines. (A. Syriaca, L.) — Fields and road-sides, New — 
Berne, North Carolina, Croom, and northward. June and July.—Stem sup 
high, sometimes branched. Leaves 4'—8/long. Pedicels 1' — 11/ long, purplish. 
Corolla 3^ wide. 
3 3 Follicles spineless. 
+ Leaves opposite, oval or oblong, narrowed into a petiole. E 
2. A. phytolaccoides, Pursh. Stem tall, smooth; leaves ovate 0f — 
ovate-lanceolate, tapering at each end, paler and minutely pubescent beneath, » 
membranaceous; umbels long-peduncled, many-flowered; pedicels filiform, 
drooping, nearly as long as the peduncle; corolla pale greenish; leaves of the 
crown white, truncated, 2-toothed, shorter than the subulate incurved horm: ~ 
Low grounds along the mountains, and northward. June and July. — Stem 3°- 
5° high. Leaves 6'-9 long. Pedicels 2 — 3! long. yh 
3. A. purpurascens, L. Stem smooth; leaves ovate-oblong, acute — 
short-petioled, paler and pubescent beneath; umbels 1 — 2, terminal, aot! 
many-flowered ; pedicels half as long as the peduncle, and twice as long as the — 
dark purple corolla; leaves of the crown oblong, abruptly contracted mets ; 
twice as long as the incurved horn and nearly sessile gynostegium. — on 
and borders of woods, Tennessee, North Carolina, and northward. June and 
July. — Stem 2°-3° high. Leaves 4/-7' long. Pedicels 9" —15" long, gt z 
4. A. variegata, L. Stem stout, leafless below, pubescent in lines ; lea? — 
oval, oblong, or obovate, cuspidate, smooth on both sides; umbels 3 -5, pubes" 
peduncle; corolla white; leaves of the crown roundish, longer than the pup. : ^ 
cent, closely flowered, the upper ones corymbose ; pedicels as long as the — 
) 
_ gynostegium, equalling the thick awl-pointed incurved horn, (A. nivea, Push) 
.. — Dry open woods and borders of fields, Florida to Mississippi, and northwa®* — 
~ May and June. — Stem 2° - 3° high, purplish, Leaves rather thick, 2/-3! long- : 
| Peduncles 9” — 12 long. —— v MR 
