DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 181 
grained masses. Ovary free from the calyx-tube, of 2 carpels, 
more or less united below but unconnected above; styles 2; 
stigmas 5-angled ; ovules several-many. Fruit consisting of 
1 or 2 pods. The flowers are very highly specialized for 
pollination by insects (see below, under Asclepias). 
I. ASCLEPIAS, L. 
Perennial herbs. Flowers in simple (usually many-flow- 
ered) umbels. Calyx small, 5-parted, its lobes reflexed. 
Corolla deeply 5-parted, with reflexed lobes ; crown of hoods 
and horns conspicuous (Fig. 20, A, 6). Stamens with their 
filaments united into a tube around the pistil and anthers 
adnate fo the stigma (Fig. 20, D, #); anther-cells 2, each cell 
containing an elongated, pear-shaped, tough mass of pollen, a 
mass from one anther always paired with one from the adjoin- 
ing anther and each two together suspended from one of the 
5 split glands on the angles of the stigma (Fig. 20, D, £). 
Ovaries 2; styles very short. Pods 2 or sometimes 1 and the 
other undeveloped. Seeds flat, each with a tuft of long, silky 
hairs. The flowers are pollinated by insects, which get their 
feet entangled in the clefts of the glands (Fig. 20, y) and 
then carry off the pollen-masses. (See Miller, Zhe Fertiliza- 
tion of Flowers, pp. 396-399 inclusive. ) 
1. A. purpurascens, L. PurreLe MiILtKweEep. Stem 1-3 ft. high, 
somewhat branched above. Leaves 4—6 in. long, elliptical or nearly 
so, the upper ones taper-pointed, slightly velvety beneath, short- 
petioled. Umbels terminal. Flowers 4 in. long, dark purple; pedi- 
cels shorter than the peduncle; horn broadly scythe-shaped, with 
the point bent sharply inward. Dry soil. 
2. A. Cornuti, Decaisne. Common MILKWEED. Stem stout, 
3—4 ft. high, finely downy. Leaves 4-8 in. long, oblong or nearly 
so, downy beneath. Umbels terminal or nearly so. Flowers vary- 
ing from purple or greenish-purple to whitish, numerous, with a 
strong, sweet, but sickening odor. Hoods with a tooth on each side 
of the stout horn. Common in rich soil. 
3. A. phytolaccoides, Pursh. PoKE-LEAVED MILKWEED. Stem 
rather slender, 3-5 ft. high. Leaves 6-9 in. long, ovate or oval- 
‘lanceolate, taper-pointed, short-petioled. Umbels several, mostly 
lateral; pedicels slender and drooping. Lobes of the corolla 
