302 as< i.r.ri.vi>A('K.i'.. (milkweed eamily.) 



1. ASCLEPIAS, L. Milkwbbd. Silkweed. 



Calyx 5-partcd. CoroIl:i wheel-shaped, deeply 5-partcd, reflcxed. Crown 

 composed of S 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 .-talk from the projecting angles of the stigma, 

 Follicle many-seeded. Seeds obovate, flat, usually comose. — Perennial herbs, 

 "with mostly simple (not twining) sterns, and opposite alternate or whorlcd leaves. 

 Flowers in lateral (between the leaves) and terminal umbels. 



§ 1 . Stems herbaceous : seeds comose. 

 * Follicles spiny : leaves opposite. 



1. A. Comuti, Decaisne. Softly pubescent ; stem stout, erect, obscurely 

 4-angled; haves oval-oblong, short-pctioled, mucronatc, soon smooth above, the 

 lowest somewhat cordate; umbels numerous, many-flowered, long-peduncled j 

 corolla greenish-purple, one fourth as long as the pedicels; leaves of the crown 

 pale purple, ovate, obtuse, longer than the incurred horn ; follicle ovate-oblong, 

 woolly, armed with soft spines. (A. Syriaca, L.) — Fields and road-ides, New 

 Berne, North Carolina, Groom, and northward. June and July. — Stem 3° -4° 

 high, sometimes branched. Leaves 4' -8' long. Pedicels 1' - li' long, purplish. 

 Corolla }/ wide. 



# * Follicles spineless. 

 •*- Leaves opposite, oval or oblong, mtrrourd into a petiole. 



2. A. phytolaccoides, Pursh. Stem tall, smooth ; leaves ovate or 

 ovatc-lanccolate, 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 horn. — 

 Low grounds along the mountains, and northward. June and July. — Stem 3°- 

 5° high. Leaves C'-9' long. Pedicels 2' -3' long. 



3. A. purpurascens, L. Stem smooth ; leaves ovate-oblong, acute, 

 short-pctioled, paler and pubescent beneath; umbels l -2, terminal, peduncled, 

 many-flowered j pedicels half as long as the peduncle, ami twice as long as the 

 dark purple corolla; leaves of the crown oblong, abruptly contracted above, 

 twice as long as the incurved horn and nearly sessile gynostegium. — Thickets 

 ami borders of woods, Tennessee, North Carolina, and northward, dune and 

 July. — Stem 2°-3° high. Leaves -J'- 7' long. Pedicels 'J" -15'' long, pu- 

 bescent 



4. A. varicgata, L. Stem stout, leafless below, pubescent in lines ; leaves 

 oval, oblong, or obovate, cuspidate, smooth on both sides; umbels 3-5, pubes- 

 cent, closely flowered, the upper ones corymbose ; pedicels erect, as long :>- the 

 peduncle ; corolla white ; leaves of the crown roundish, longer than the purplish 

 gynostegium, equalling the thick awl-pointed incurved horn. (A. uvea, Pursh.) 

 — Dry open woods and borders of fields, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. 

 May and June —Stem 2° - 3° high, purplish. Leaves rather thick, 2'- i? long. 

 Peduncles 9"- 12" lung. 



