194 KEY AND FLORA 



Corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed, with a small, scale-like appendage 

 at the base of each lobe. Stamens 5, distinct, inserted on the 

 base of the corolla tube. Ovaries 2, distinct, united by the 

 styles; stigma obtuse, 2-lobed. Pods long, slender, many- 

 seeded; seeds with a tuft of hairs.* 



1. A. androsaemifolium L. DOGBANE. Plant 2-3 ft. high, usually 

 smooth, purplish, the branches spreading and forking. Leaves 2-3 

 in. long, acute, mucronate ; petioles about ^ in. long. Cymes mostly 

 terminal, few-flowered. Calyx teeth lance-ovate, about half as long 

 as the corolla tube. Corolla pale red or whitish, its lobes recurved. 

 Pods stouter than in No. 2. Roadsides and clearings; common. 



2. A. cannabinum L. INDIAN HEMP. Stem erect, smooth, with 

 numerous erect or ascending branches. Leaves oval to oblong, 

 mucronate at the apex, rounded at the base, downy beneath, 

 short-petioled. Cymes terminal, compact, shorter than the leaves. 

 Flowers are on short, bracted pedicels, greenish -white, about in. 

 broad. Calyx lobes lanceolate, nearly as long as the tube of the 

 corolla. Corolla lobes erect. Pods very slender, tapering, 3-4 in. 

 long. Along fences and in thickets.* 



IV. NERIUM L. 



Shrubs. Leaves mostly whorled in threes. Flowers in termi- 

 nal cymes. Calyx small, lobes acute. Corolla salverform, the 

 throat of the tube crowned with cleft or cut-fringed scales. 

 Stamens 5, short, included ; anthers tipped with a hairy 

 bristle. Ovary of 2 carpels; style short. Pods erect; seeds 

 with a tuft of hairs.* 



1. N. Oleander L. OLEANDER. Stem erect, diffusely branched 

 from below, 4-10 ft. high. Leaves narrowly elliptical, acute at each 

 end, thick and leathery, short-petioled. Flowers showy, in large 

 clusters, red or white, often double ; scales of the crown 3-4-pointed 

 unequal teeth. Pods spindle-shaped, 3-4 in^long. Introduced from 

 Palestine. Common in cultivation.* 



82. ASCLEPIADACEJE. MILKWEED FAMILY 



Shrubs or herbs, often twining; juice usually milky. 

 Leaves generally opposite or whorled, entire, without stipules. 

 Flowers regular. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 5-parted. Stamens 

 5 ; the filaments usually united around the styles, often with 



