MILKWEED FAMILY 115 



Locs. — South Coast Ranges: Mt. Diablo (near upper Pme Canon), F. A. Leach; San Antonio 

 trail, Santa Lucia Mts., Jepaon 1661; Treat ranch, upper San Benito Eiver, Jepson 12,206; Los 

 Gatos Creek (head of), w. Fresno Co., Jepson 12,190. Tulare and Kern Cos.: Badger road, e. 

 of Orosi, H. P. Kelley; Lloyd Mdws., Kern Eiver, Jepson 4893 ; Greenhorn Mts., Erames. Teha- 

 chapi Mts. : Caliente, Jepson 15,-136. S. Cal. : Mt. Pinos, Ball 6398 ; Rock Creek, San Gabriel Mts., 

 Peirson 3541 ; Cajon Pass, Jepson 6109 ; San Bernardino Valley, Jepson 5583 ; betw. Vandeventer 

 Flat and Coj'ote Caiion, Santa Rosa Mts., Jepson; Elsinore, Jepson 12,426; Mesa Grande, San 

 Diego Co., E. Ferguson 7 ; Julian, T. Brandegee ; San Diego, M. F. Spencer. 



Eefa. — AscLEPiAS californica Greene, Erythea 1:92 (1893) ; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 384 

 (1901), ed. 2, 324 (1911), Man. 774 (1925). Acerates tomentosa Torr., Bot. Mex. Bound. 160, 

 pi. 44 (1859), type loe. mts. east of San Diego, Parry. Gompliocarpus tomentosus Gray, Bot. Cal. 

 1 :477 (1876) ; var. xantii Gray, I.e., type loc. Ft. Tejon, Xantus. 



10. A. cordifolia Jepson. Purple Milkweed. Stems IY2 to 2V2 feet high; 

 herbage green and more or less purplish, perfectly glabrous ; leaves mostly in whorls 

 of 2, rarely in 3s, the blades ovate and mostly acute, the upper varying to ovate- 

 lanceolate, the lower varying to elliptic-ovate or orbicular, all sessile with cordate- 

 clasping base, 2 to 4 inches long; umbels loosely many-flowered, the filiform pedicels 

 equaling or shorter than the peduncles; corolla dark red-purjile. its lobes 3 to 4 

 lines long; hood purplish, oblong, the summit obliquely truncate dorsally and pro- 

 duced at the ventral margins into an ascending cusf), the fissure down the front 

 narrow; follicles lanceolate to oblong, often long-attenuate, glabrous, 2 to 3^4 (or 

 5) inches long. 



Open or openly wooded slopes, from the foothills, 500 feet, up to 5000 feet: 

 North Coast Ranges from Siskiyou Co. to Solano Co.; Marysville Buttes; Sierra 

 Nevada from Modoc Co. to Kern Co. Western Nevada to southern Oregon. May- 

 July. 



Geog. note. — Asclepias cordifolia is one of a considerable number of species which inhabit 

 the North Coast Ranges and the entire length of the Sierra Nevada, but are not found in the South 

 Coast Ranges nor in Southern California. It occurs also on the easterly slopes of the Sierra Ne- 

 vada in western Nevada and in southern Oregon, as do many other species of this distribution 

 category, but it is not found in the outer North Coast Ranges. Stations throughout its range are 

 not infrequent, but the individuals are usually solitary. 



Locs. — North Coast Ranges: Humbug, Siskiyou Co.^ Butler 763 ; Sisson, Jepson 14,529 ; Red- 

 ding, Blankinship ; Devils Backbone, n. Humboldt Co., Jepson; East Weaver Creek, Trinity Co., 

 H. S. Tales 332; Hupa, Chandler 1347; South Fork Mt., Trinity Co., Jepson; Castle Peak, ne. 

 Mendocino Co., Jepson 14,530; Mt. Sanhedrin, Heller 5918; Mt. Konocti, Jepson 14,531; St. 

 Helena, Jepson; Dunns Peak, Vacaville, Jepson 14,532. Sierra Nevada: Modoc Co., If. S. Ba'ker ; 

 Hot Springs Valley, Plumas Co., Jepson; Little Chico Creek, S. M. Austin; Sierra Valley, Lem- 

 mon; Canon Creek, South Fork Yuba River, L. S. Smith 1796 ; Gwin Mine, Calaveras Co., Jepson; 

 Italian Bar, South Fork Stanislaus Eiver, Jepson 6389; Hetch-Hetehy, Jepson; Snow Creek, Yo- 

 semite, Jepson 10,483 ; North Fork, Madera Co., Jepson; Big Creek sta., Fresno Co., Jepson; Kings 

 River Canon, Newlon 227; Burnt Corral Mdw., Little Kern River, Jepson; lower Kern River Ca- 

 non, near Democrat Sprs., Peirson 7312. 



Eefs.— Asclepias cordifolia Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 384 (1901), ed. 2, 324 (1911), Man. 

 774, fig. 761 (1925). Acerates cordifolia Benth., PI. Hartw. 323 (1849), type loc. Marysville 

 Buttes, Eartweg 338. Gomphocarpus cordifolius Gray, Bot. Cal. 1:477 (1876). 



6. ASCLEPIODORA Gray 



Stems low and stout. Leaves alternate. Corolla rotate, the ovate lobes greenish, 

 rotate-spreading. Hoods inserted at base of the stamen-column, narrow and elon- 

 gated, the .sides involute-approximate so as to form a sort of tubular process which 

 is incurved at apex and somewhat hooded, the apical cavity bearing a deltoid crest 

 or wing ending in a short acute point; bases of hoods joined to each other by a disk 

 or ring of undulate lobes opposite the glandular slits. Anther wings widest at the 

 middle. — Species 4, North America. (Greek Asklepios, Asclepias, and doron, gift, 

 the gift of the celebrated ancient physician.) 



1. A. decumbens Gray. Stems decumbent or ascending; herbage green, sca- 

 brous-puberulent; leaves elongated, linear-lanceolate, (3 or) 4 to 6 inches long. 



