92 ASCLEPIADACE^. Asdepias. 



= = Umbels usually more than one and on peduncles overtoppina; or equalling the leaves ; stem 

 tall and simple : leaves broad, resembling those of the three preceding species. 



A. glaucescens, HBK. Glabrous up to the peduncles, and inclined to be glaucous : 

 leaves as of A. obtusijUki, but only slightly undulate, 2^ to 4 inches long : umbels 2 to 4 or 

 rarely solitary, many-flowered : pedicels pubescent or villous, rather short : corolla greenish- 

 white ; the lobes ovate, 3 or 4 lines long : colunm very short : hoods obovate-truncate, 

 about equalling the anthers, with fleshy gibbous-incurved back and (white ? ) petaloid sides, 

 the whole length within occupied by a broad and thin crest, which is 2-lobed at the sum- 

 mit, the outer lobe broad and rounded, the inner a short and triangular-subulate nearly 

 included horn. — Nov. Gen. & Spec. iii. 290, 1. 127 ; Decaisne in DC. 1. c. 565. A. Sullivantii, 

 Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 162, wholly ? — S. W. Texas and New Mexico (but the only 

 specimen in herb. Torr. from " Plains near the Rio Limpio "), Bitjehw. (Mex.) 



== = == Umbels more than one, on peduncles longer than the orbicular leaves or than the much 

 abbreviated stem. 

 A ■ nummularia, Torr. Clustered stems an inch or two high : leaves in 2 or 3 approxi- 

 mated pairs, orbicular, mucronate, thickish, canescently tomentose, glabrate with age : 

 peduncles 1^ to 2 inches long, many-flowered: corolla greenish-white; the lobes ovate, 

 2 lines long : colunm hardly any : hoods ovate, a little longer than the anthers : the horn 

 short and stout: follicles ovate-lanceolate, tomentulose. — Bot. Mex. Bound. 163, t. 45. — 

 New Mexico, Bigelow, Thurber, &c. (Adjacent Mex.) 



= :^ = = Umbels mostly more than one: peduncle not overtopping the leaves (except per- 

 haps in A. cinerea), sometimes none. 

 a. Leaves broad (from orbicular to oblong-lanceolate), proportionally large: hoods broad, little if 

 at all overtopping the anthers : stems from a foot to a yard or more in height, except the first 

 species. 

 1. Glabrous or some minute pubescence or tomentimi on young parts, no floccose wool. 

 A. cryptoceras, "Watson. A span or two high, almost completely glabrous : stems 

 decumbent : leaves 3 or 4 pairs, ovate-orbicular with nmcronate apiculation, glaucescent, 



1 or 2 inches long, very short-petioled : flowers large, all at the simnnit, few in each of the 



2 or 3 umbels : the lateral of these sessile, the terminal short-peduncled : lobes of the 

 greenish-yellow corolla ovate, 5 lines long : column none : hoods flesh-colored, saccate- 

 ovate, abruptly and minutely bi-aciuninate, equalling the anthers, enclosing the falcate- 

 subulate horn: follicles ovate. — King Expcd. 283, t. 28. Acerates latifoUa, Torv.mYvGm.. 

 Rep. ed. 2, 317. — Utah, W. Nevada, and Idaho, Nuttall, Fremont, Watson, &c. 



A. amplexicaulis, Michx. Glaucous and glabrous : stems decumbent, a foot or two 

 long : leaves in numerous rather crowded pairs, cordate-ovate and clasping, obtuse, suc- 

 culent, whitish-veiny, 3 to 5 inches long : peduncles about half the length of the leaves, 

 longer than the numerous slender pedicels : lobes of the greenish-purplish corolla oblong, 



3 lines long : colunm very short : hoods white, obovate-truncate, nearly enclosing the tri- 

 angular-arcuate crest-like horn: follicles ovate-lanceolate. — Fl. i. 113; Ell. Sk. i. 322. A. 

 huinlstrata, Walt. Car. 105, except " floribus rubris." — Dry sandy barrens. North Carolma 

 to Florida. 



A. Jamesii, Torr. Farinose-puberulent when young, soon green and glabrous : stem 

 stout, erect or ascending, a foot or more high : leaves about 5 pairs, approximate, re- 

 markably thick and large (when dry coriaceous, the larger 4 to 6 inches long), orbicular 

 or broadly oval, often emarginate and with a mucronation, subcordate at base, nearly 

 sessile, copiously transversely veined : umbels 2 or 3, all or mostly lateral, densely many- 

 flowered, on peduncles shorter than the pedicels : flowers greenish : lobes of the corolla 

 ovate, 4 or 5 lines long : column very short but distinct : hoods barely equalling the an- 

 thers, broad, with truncate entire summit, which is equalled by the upper margin of the 

 falciform-triangular crest, the apex of which extends into a short subulate horn partly 

 over the top of the stigmatic disk : follicles turgid-ovate, barely acute, 2^ or 3 inches long. 

 — Bot. Mex. Bound. 102. A. ohtusifoliu, var. latifolia, Torr. in Ann. Lye. ii. 117. — Plains 

 of Colorado to W. Texas and E. Arizona. 



A. phytolaccoides, Ptirsh. Bright green and glabrous : stem 4 or 5 feet high : leaves 

 membranaceous, from oval to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at both ends, slu>rt-petioled, 



4 to 8 inches long: peduncles (1 or 2 inches long) seldom longer than the numerous fili- 

 form lax pedicels : corolla greenish ; the lobes ovate or oblong, 4 lines long : column short : 



