Vol. III.] 



MILKWEED FAMILY, 



II. Asclepias Meadii Torr. Mead's Milk- 

 weed. (Fig. 2910.) 



A. Meadii torr.; A. Graj-, Man. Ed. 2, Add. 704. 1856. 



Nearly glabrous throughout, pale green or glau- 

 cous; stem simple, or rarely branched above, i°-2° 

 high. Leaves opposite, sessile, flat, mostly distant, 

 ovate, ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate or the lower ob- 

 long, acute or sometimes obtuse at the apex, the 

 margins scabrous; umbel solitary, terminal, several- 

 flowered, borne on a peduncle 3'-6' long; corolla-seg- 

 ments greenish yellow, ovate, acute, 3"-4"long; col- 

 umn very short, thicker than high; hoods ovate, pur- 

 plish, nearly twice as long as the anthers, rounded and 

 truncate at the summit, longer than the subulate in- 

 flexed horn, with a small tooth at each side on the 

 inner infolded margin; follicles erect on decurved 

 pedicels, minutely puberulent, narrow, 4^-5' long. 



In dry soil, southern Illuiois to Iowa. June-.\ug. 



12. Asclepias exaltata (L,.) Muhl. 

 Poke or Tall Milkweed. (Fig. 2911.) 



A. Syriaca var. exaltata L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 313. 1762. 



Asclepias exaltata Muhl. Cat. 28. 1813. 



A. phytolaccoides Vixrsh, Fl. Am. Sept. 180. 1814. 



Nearly glabrous throughout, with two opposite 

 lines of pubescence on the usually simple stem, 

 3°-6° high. Leaves opposite, thin or membranous, 

 oval, ovate or oblong, acuminate at both ends, 4'-9' 

 long, 1%'-^' wide, the lower sometimes obovate, 

 obtuse, shorter; petioles %'-i'\ong\ peduncles i'- 

 3' long; umbels usually several; pedicels slender, 

 drooping or spreading, i'-2' long, puberulent; cor- 

 olla green-purple, the segments ovate or oblong, 

 obtusish, 3"-4" long; column short; hoods white 

 or pink, slightly shorter than the anthers, much 

 shorter than the subulate horn, at the summit trun- 

 cate and entire or erose, with i or 2 slender teeth on 

 each of the inner margins; follicles erect on the de- 

 flexed pedicels, downy, long-acuminate, 4'-6' long. 

 In thickets and woods, Maine to Minne.sota, Georgia and Missouri. Ascends to 5500 ft. in North 



Carolina. June-Aug. 



13. Asclepias variegata L. 



Asclepias I'ariegata L. Sp. PI. 217. 1753. 



Stem glabrous below, pubescent above when 

 young, simple, l°-3° high. Leaves opposite, 

 thick, oval, ovate, oblong or the lower .somewhat 

 obovate, obtuse and cuspidate or acutish at the 

 apex, narrowed or rounded at the base, dark 

 green above, pale beneath, 3^-6' long, i'-3' wide, 

 the middle ones sometimes verticillate in 4's; 

 petioles 3"-i2" long; umbels 1-4, terminal, or 

 rarely i or 2 in the upper axils, densely many- 

 flowered; peduncles i'-i' long; pedicels '/i'-iyi' 

 long, erect or ascending, usually densely puberu- 

 lent; corolla-segments ovate or oval, about 3" 

 long, white, or purple near the base; column 

 very short and thick, purplish; hoods globo.se- 

 obovoid, obtuse, spreading, longer than the an- 

 thers, about equalling the semi-lunate horizon- 

 tally pointed horn; follicles downy, erect on the 

 deflexed fruiting pedicels, 4'-5' long. 



In dry woods or thickets, Connecticut, southern 

 New York to Illinois, south to Florida, Arkansas 

 and Louisiana. June-July. 



White Milkweed. (Fig. 2912.) 



