ASCLEPIADACE2E. (MILKWEED FAMILY.) 367 
sessile base, erect; hoods of the crown obovate, entire, obtusely %-eared 
at the base on the outside, with a slender but obtuse claw-like horn; 
pods ovate-lanceolate, with small and scattered warty spines chiefly on 
the beak. — Near Columbus, Ohio, Sullivant. (Also Missouri, Engel- 
mann.) July. — Resembles No. 1 in appearance, petals, &c.; the 
hoods larger, and exceeding the anthers by one half. 
* * Pods not warty-roughened or prickly. 
Leaves all opposite, or the middle ones sometimes in fours. 
++ Stems simple or nearly so. 
3 A. pliytolaccoides, Pursh. (Poke-Milkweed.) Stem 
tall, smooth; leaves broadly ovate, or the upper oval-lanceolate and 
pointed at both ends, short-petioled, smooth or slightly downy under¬ 
neath ; pedicels loose and nodding, numerous, elongated and slender, 
nearly as long as the peduncle, many times longer than the ovate-ob¬ 
long divisions of the (greenish ) corolla ; hoods of the crown (white) 
truncate, the margins 2-toothed at the summit, the horn with a long 
projecting aicl-shaped point; pods minutely downy. — Moist copses, 
not rare. June. — Stem 2P-5° high, above marked with 2 opposite 
lines of minute pubescence, as in most of the following : peduncles 
F-3' long. Leaves 5'- 8 ; long. 
4. A. piirpurclscens, L. (Purple Milkweed.) Stem 
rather slender (2° - 3° high) ; leaves elliptical or ovate-oblong, the low¬ 
er mucronate, the upper taper-pointed, minutely velvety-downy under¬ 
neath, smooth above, contracted at the base into a short petiole; pedicels 
shorter than the mostly terminal peduncle, about ttcice the length of the 
dark purple lanceolate-ovate divisions of the corolla; hoods of the 
crown oblong, abruptly narrowed above ; the horn broadly scythe-shap¬ 
ed, with a narrow and abruptly inflexed horizontal point; pods smooth. 
(A. amcena, L., Michx.) — Border of copses, N. England to Michigan, 
not common eastward. July. — Flowers as large as in No. 1: pedun¬ 
cle and pedicels downy along one side. 
5. A. variegata, L. (Variegated Milkweed.) Nearly 
smooth (1° - 2° high); leaves ovate, oval, or obovate, somewhat wavy, 
mucronate, contracted into short petioles ; pedicels ( numerous and 
crowded ) and peduncle short, downy; divisions of the corolla ovate 
(white) ; hoods of the crown orbicular, entire, the horn semilunar 
with a horizontal point; pods slightly downy. (A. nivea, L., in part. 
A. hybrida, Michx.) — Dry woods, S. New York to Penn., Ohio, and 
southward. July. —Remarkable for its very compact umbels of near¬ 
ly white flowers, often purple in the centre. Leaves 4-5 pairs, the 
middle ones sometimes whorled ; veins often purple. Peduncles 1 — 
3, usually long. 
6. A. quad ri folia, Jacq. (Four-leaved Milkweed.) Near¬ 
ly smooth (10'-18' high), slender; leaves ovate or sometimes ovate- 
lanceolate, petioled, usually taper-pointed, the middle ones in whorls of 
