944 ASCLEPIADACEAE 



seeds about 8 mm. long, marked by fine broken diverging ridges, the paler margin cori- 

 aceous and much wrinkled : coma 3 cm. long. [A. amplexicaulis Michx.] 

 In dry sandy soil, North Carolina to Florida. Spring and early summer. 



rounded or sometimes tapering at the base, commonly obtuse, sometimes mucronate at the 

 apex, green and glabrate or nearly so above, soft-pubescent or tomentulose beneath : umbels 

 usually several, lateral, many-flowered : peduncles 4-8 cm. long : corolla-lobes dull green- 

 ish purple, 8 mm. long, puberulouson the outside, and sometimes minutely so on the inner 

 surface : column very short : hoods whitish or dull greenish purple, erect, longer than the 

 anthers, ovate, obtuse or rounded, with an upcurved tooth or auricle on each side below the 

 middle : horn short, subulate, inflexed over the anthers : anther-wings notched or cornicu- 

 late at the spreading base: follicles^ 7-9 cm. long, ovate, ventricose, tomentose, mostly 

 erect on recurving pedicels : seeds 7 mm. long, glabrous, the wing-like margin wrinkled, 

 paler than the body : coma very abundant, 3 cm. long. [A. Cornu'i Decne.] 



In fields and waste places, New Brunswick to Saskatchewan, Georgia and Kansas. Summer. 



8. Asclepias purpuraacena L. Stems glabrous or somewhat tomentulose, stout, 

 3-10 dm. high or more : leaf -blades typically ovate-oblong, 1-2 dm. long, truncate or 

 obscurely tapering to the short petiole, mostly acutish or mucronate at the apex, rather 

 thin, glabrous above, tomentulose and sometimes becoming glabrate beneath : umbels 

 short-peduncled, 2-5, cymosely terminal or sometimes 1-2 in the upper axils : corolla-lobes 

 dark or dull purple, oblong, obtuse, 8-10 mm. long : column very short : hoods shorter 

 than the corolla-lobes, twice as high as the anthers, pale reddish or purple, erect, oblong, 

 with an obscure rounded lobe near the middle of each ventral margin : horn short, in- 

 curved, exserted over the stigmas : anther-wings very short and sharply salient, entire or 

 minutely notched at the base : follicles erect on recurving pedicels, 10-12 cm. long, atten- 

 uated at the apex, tomentulose : seeds 7 mm. long, minutely granulose, marked with diverg- 

 ing broken lines, the margin very thin and brittle : coma 3-4 cm. long. 



In dry grounds, New England to Wisconsin, Tennessee and North Carolina. Summer. 



9. Aaclepiaa tomentosa Ell. Stems tomentulose or soft-pubescent, erect, simple or 

 rarely branched, 3-9 dm. high or more : leaves numerous, often crowded, much decreased 

 in size at the summit of the stem ; blades mainly oblong-elliptic, 5-8 cm. long, acute or 

 acutish at each end, rather thick and rigid, glabrate or 'minutely pubescent above, tomen- 

 tulose beneath : umbels numerous, sessile or short-peduncled, loosely many-flowered, 

 crowded in axils of the upper leaves : pedicels 2-2.5 cm. long, tomentulose : corolla-lobes 

 greenish, broadly ovate, acute, scarious-margined, 7-8 mm. long : hoods sessile or nearly 

 so, not exceeding the anthers, truncate at the summit, slightly gibbous at the base on the 

 outside, laterally compressed, the wing-like ventral margins obtuse or acutish, glabrous or 

 rarely somewhat pubescent : horn broadly subulate, adnate below the apex of the hood, 

 notched below the slender acuminate erect apex, which is exserted for about a third its 

 length : anther-wings entire or obscurely notched : follicles about 12 cm. long, erect on 

 recurving pedicels, slender, tapering to each end, tomentulose : seeds 6-7 mm. long, thin : 

 coma 3-4 cm. long. 



In dry sandy soil and high pine lands, Georgia and Florida. Spring and summer. 



10. Aacelpiaa aceratoidea M. A. Curtis. Stems tomentulose, simple, erect, 33 cm. 

 high or more, from a long horizontal rootstock : leaves few ; blades 7-10 cm. long, ob- 

 lanceolate, obtuse and mucronulate at the apex, tapering at the base, the transverse veins 

 somewhat ascending : umbels 2-several, loosely many-flowered, sessile or nearly so in the 

 upper axils: pedicels tomentulose, 2.5 cm. long: corolla-lobes greenish, 7 mm. long, 

 broadly oblong, acute, scarious-margined : hoods erect or nearly so on the very short 

 column, slightly gibbous at the base, obliquely truncate at the summit, laterally compressed, 

 minutely tomentulose, not exceeding the anthers : horn granulose, broadly triangular, 

 straight" along the top, the apex acute, horizontally exserted a little beyond the obtuse 

 wing-like ventral angles of the hood : anther-wings entire at the broad angled base : folli- 

 cles not seen. 



In sandy pine woods, North Carolina and South Carolina. Spring. 



11. Aacelpias variegata L. Stems glabrous, or minutely pubescent above, 3-9 dm. 

 high, erect from a ligneous rootstock : leaves in 3-7 pairs, the middle pairs rarely whorled 

 in 4's ; blades typically oval, sometimes ovate or oblong, or obovate, 6-14 cm. long, acute. 



