ASCLEPIA DACEAE 945 



at each end or short-acuminate above, or obtuse and mucronate-apiculate, sometimes undu- 

 late, bright light green above, much paler, glaucescent and sometimes tomentulose beneath: 

 peduncles 1-3, rarely 4, terminal and subtenninal, 2-4 cm. long, and usually longer than 

 the numerous slender tomentulose pedicels of the crowded commonly globose umbel : flowers 

 white, except the stout purplish column and anthers : corolla-lobes 6-8 cm. long, acute : 

 hoods erect, 4 mm. high, globular- ventricose above a narrow claw-like base, the ventral 

 margins open, spreading, obtuse at the erect angles, exceeding the anthers : horn semi- 

 lunate, the attenuated apex horizontally exserted for nearly half its length : anther- 

 wings salient and angled at about the middle, commonly entire, rounded toward the base : 

 follicles slender-fusiform, erect on recurving pedicels 1-1.3 dm. long, long-acuminate, 

 tomentulose : seeds 5 mm. long, thinnish, granulose under a lens: coma 3.5-4.5 cm. long. 

 In dry shaded grounds, Connecticut to Illinois, Florida and Texas. Spring and summer. 



12. Asclepias exaltata (L. ) Muhl. Stems bright green and glabrous, or the upper 

 portion minutely pubescent, usually in two opposite lines, simple, stout, 1-1.5 m. high : 

 leaves various, the upper ones much reduced ; blades elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, the 

 lower rarely obovate, acuminate at each end, and glabrous above, lighter and some- 

 times minutely and sparingly pubescent beneath, becoming glabrate : umbels 2-5, lateral, 

 many-flowered, on peduncles 2-8 cm. long : pedicels 2-3 cm. long, very slender, pubescent 

 in lines : corolla greenish, often tinged with purple on the outside ; lobes 8 mm. long, 

 minutely pubescent on the inside : hoods raised on a short distinct column, white, pale 

 flesh-color or bluish, erect, saccate at the base, slightly shorter than the anthers, truncate 

 at the summit, the ventral margins entire or obscurely erose, with often a slender tooth 

 above the erect inner angles, much surpassed by the mostly erect or somewhat incurved 

 slender horn : anther- wings rounded at the sometimes notched and spreading base : folli- 

 cles 1.2-1.6 dm. long, slender-fusiform, long-acuminate, minutely pubescent, or at length 

 glabrous : seeds 7-8 mm. long, granulose, dark brown at the center, paler on the undulate- 

 erose margin : coma 4-5 cm. long. [A. phytolaccoides Pursh.] 



In thickets and moist woods, Maine to Minnesota, Georgia and Missouri. Summer. 



13. Asclepias rubra L. Stems glabrous, usually simple, erect, from a somewhat 

 rounded tuberous rootstock, 3 dm. high or more : leaves commonly remote ; blades 7 cm.- 

 2 dm. long, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, or long-lanceolate, tapering from the rounded or 

 somewhat cordate, sessile or very short-petioled base to a long-acuminate apex : umbels 

 solitary, terminal, or 2-3 in a terminal naked cyme : corolla-lobes purple-red, lanceo- 

 late-oblong, about 8 mm. long, acutish : column slender, distinct : hoods lanceolate, pale 

 orange-colored, or yellowish, erect, as long as the corolla-lobes and much exceeding the 

 anthers, the ventral margins infolded : horns slender, incurved, much exserted : anther- 

 wings entire, or obscurely notched at the angled base : follicles erect on recurved pedicels, 

 1 dm. long, slender, glabrous : seeds 7 mm. long, minutely pitted under a lens : coma 4 

 cm. long. i 



In swamps and moist grounds, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Florida and Texas. Summer. 



14. Asclepias lanceolata Walt. Stems nearly glabrous throughout, slender, mostly 

 simple, naked above, 4-11 dm. high or more, from a ligneous rootstock : leaves dis- 

 tant ; blades lanceolate to oblong-linear, ]-2 dm. long or more, 5 mm.-2.5 cm. wide, 

 elongated and acuminate at the apex, narrowed at the base, rough on the margins, the 

 primary veins ascending : umbels terminal, solitary, or 2-4 and somewhat cymose, few- 

 flowered : peduncles about equalling the slender pubescent pedicels : corolla-lobes oblong, 

 8-9 mm. long, deep reddish purple : column thick, 1-2 mm. high : hoods orange-color, 

 obovate or oblong, nearly as high as the anthers, the ventral margins auriculately toothed 

 near the base : horn slender, arising from the base of the hood, exserted over the anthers : 

 anther-wings notched and spreading at the base : follicles erect on recurved pedicels, fusi- 

 form, about 1 dm. long, long-attenuate to the apex, less tapering to the base, minutely 

 pubescent : seeds 8 mm. long, glabrous, thin, the wing-like margin very broad : coma 2-3 

 cm. long. \_A. paupercula Michx.] 



In swamps, New Jersey to Florida and Texas, mostly near the coast. Summer. 



15. Asclepias quadrifblia Jacq. Stems glabrous or minutely puberulent, erect, 

 simple, 3-6 dm. high, usually leafless below, from a slender somewhat horizontal or creep- 

 ing rootstock : leaves distant, commonly in 3 or 4 pairs, the lower or upper pairs in 

 a whorl of 4, or rarely 3 pairs in 6's, 4-10 cm. long; blades ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute or acuminate, on short somewhat margined petioles, glabrous and thin or minutely 

 pubescent on the veins beneath : umbels terminal or lateral, loosely many-flowered : 

 peduncles 1-4 cm. long : pedicels filiform, 1-2 mm. long, minutely pubescent : corolla 

 from pink to nearly white ; lobes oblong, about 5 mm. long : hoods white, erect -spread ing, 

 4-5 mm. high, twice the length of the anthers, ovate-oblong, broadly obtuse at the apex, 



60 



