Ordkr 97.— ASCLEPIADACE^E. 391 



III. GONOLOBE/E. Filaments connate. Tollinia 10, In pairs, horizontal, (c) 



C Corolla wheel-shaped. Plants twining, with cordate leaves Goxolodus. 3 



IV. STAPKLIKjE. Filaments connate. Pollinia 10, ascending or erect, (d) 



d Crown simple, of 6 fleshy segments. Twining. Cultivated IIoya. 8 



d Crown double, an outer and an inner. Not twining. Cultivated Stapelia. 10 



i. PERIP'LOCA, L. (Gr. Trepc, around, —A6/coc, a binding or twin- 

 ing ; from the habit of the plant.) Calyx minute ; corolla rotate, flat, 

 5-parted, orifice surrounded by a 5-cleft, urccolate corona, terminating 

 in 5 filiform awns; filaments distinct, anthers cohering, bearded on the 

 back; pollinia solitary, 4-lobed; follicles 2, smooth, divaricate; seeds 

 comous. — Twining shrubs. Fls. in umbels or cymes. 



P. Grcsca L. Lvs. ovate, acuminate ; corymb3 axillary; eor. villous within. — A 

 climbing shrub, 10 — 15f long, sparingly naturalized in Western N. Y., also culti- 

 vated in gardens. Leaves opposite, 3 — 4' long, -} as wide, and on petioles J' long. 

 Flowers in long, branching, axillary peduncles. Sepals minute, lanceolate, acute. 

 Petals very hairy within, linear, obtuse, dark purple. Follicles about 2' long. 

 Aug. § a Eur. 



2. ASCLE'PIAS, L. Milk weed. (From JSsculapius, the fabulous 

 god of medicine and physicians.) Calyx deeply 5-partcd ; corolla deeply 

 5-parted, valvate in aestivation, finally reflexed ; staminal corona 5- 

 leaved, leaflets euculhvtc, with an averted horn-like process from the 

 base curved towards the stigma; anthiridium (connate mass of anthers) 

 5-anglccl, truncate, opening by 5 longitudinal fissures ; pollinia (masses 

 of pollen) 5 distinct pairs fixed by the attenuated apex to a cleft gland, 

 pendulous ; follicles 2, ventricous ; seeds comous. — Zf Mostly N. Ameri- 

 can, with opposite, verticillatc, rarely alternate lvs. Umbels between 

 the petioles. 



jj Leaves linear. Ion? and narrow (lance-linear in the cultivated No. 19). (*) 



* Leaves all opposite, or rarely the highest alternate Nos. 17 — 19 



* Leaves mostly scattered or verticillate Nos. 15, 18 



} Leaves broader, ovate, lanceolate, &c. Plants all native. (2) 



2 Steins dividing above into branches, corymbed or panieled Nos. 13, 14 



2 Stems simple. — Leaves sessile, cordate-clasping at base Nos. 11, 13 



2 Stems simple. — Leaves petiolate, the petioles often quite short. (3) 



3 Flowers (small) with a white crown and purplish-white corolla Nos. S — 10 



3 Flowers with a white crown and greenish-white corolla Kos. — 7 



3 Flowers (large) with both crown 2nd corolla purple-tinged. (4) 



4 Follicles smoothish (as are all tho foregoing) Xos. 3, 4 



4 Follicles sprinkled with soft warty spines Nos. 1, 2 



1 A. comuti Dccaisne. Simple, stout ; lvs. oblong-ovate, short-acuminate, short- 

 petiolate, downy beneath ; pedicels shorter than tho leaves, densely many-flow- 

 ered; cor. lobes ovato reflexed, 4 times shorter than tho pedicils; hoods of tho 

 crown ovate, obtuse, not longer than tho uncinate horn. — A common, very milky 

 herb, 3 to 4f high, in hedges and road-sides. Lvs. 5 to S' by 2 to 3'; vcinlets, 

 as iu most species, nearly at right angles to tho midvein. Fed. stout, between 

 the petioles, bearing a globular umbel of a hundred greenish purple flowers, few 

 of which prove fruitful Pods full of seeds with their long silk. Jl. 



2 A. Sullivantii Engel. Tall, very smooth; lvs. ovate-oblong, erect, cordate, on 

 very short petioles; hoods of Vie crown obovale, obtuso and entire at apex, obtusely 

 auriculato without on each side at base; horns slender but obtuso; follicles with 

 scattered, warty spines. — Xear Columbus, Ohio ( :1 Sullivant." Mr. A. II. Watson). 

 Said to resemble A. comuti in foliago and fruit, but remarkably different in its 

 crown. Petals 4 to 5" long, greenish purple. Hoods twice as long as tho aa- 

 thers. Jl. 



3 A. purpurascens L. St. simple, erect, puberulent; lvs. elliptical, ovaic-dlip- 

 ticul or ovate, rnueronate, narrowed at base into a short petiole, smooth above, 

 tomentous-pubescent and paler beneath; peel, terminal, shorter than thekaves; 

 hoods oblong or lance-ovate, obtuse, horns falcate, acute, abruptly bent to hori- 

 t&nkU. — In hedges and thickets, N. II., Mass. to Wi3. and Ky. St. 3f or moro 



