ASCLEPIADACE.E. (MILKWEED FAMILY.) 343 



globose, surrounded by a cup-shaped membrane. Follicles slender. Seeds 

 in a single row, terete, truncated at each end, naked. Erect branching 

 perennial herbs, with alternate leaves, and small pale blue flowers in a ter- 

 minal panicle. 



1. A. Tabernsemontana, Walt. Stem smooth, branching above; 

 leaves ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, glaucous beneath, short-petioled ; 

 tube of the corolla slender, smooth, or woolly above ; follicles spreading. 

 Swamps and wet banks. May- June. Stem 2 high. Leaves 1'- 4' long, 

 often slightly pubescent beneath. Panicle open or contracted. Follicles 

 4' -6' long. 



2 A. Ciliata, Walt. Stem hairy, at length much branched above ; leaves 

 verv numerous, linear or linear-lanceolate, fringed on the margins ; corolla 

 smooth. Dry sandy soil, Florida to North Carolina. April- May. Stem 

 at length 2 -3 high. Leaves l'-2' long. Corolla pale blue or white. 



4. VINCA, L. PERIWINKLE. 



Calyx 5 parted. Corolla salver-form, 5-lobed, thickened or angular at the 

 throat, the narrow tube hairy within. Anthers oblong, longer than the fila- 

 ments (ilands 2, alternating with the ovaries. Style slender: stigma thick, 

 with an inverted cup-shaped membrane at the base. Follicles 2, linear, erect. 

 Seeds oblong, rough, naked. Herbs or shrubby plants, with opposite short- 

 petioled leaves, and axillary mostly solitary showy flowers. 



1. V. rosea, L. Shrubby, pubescent; stem erect, branching; leaves 

 oblong ; flowers solitary or in pairs ; corolla white or pale rose-color. 

 Waste ground. Introduced. 



5. VALLESIA, Ruiz & Pavon. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla salver-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens inserted on the 

 throat of the corolla : anthers cordate-ovate, longer than the slender filaments. 

 Nectary none. Ovaries 4-ovuled. Stigma club-shaped. Drupe mostly soli- 

 tary, obovoid, 1 - 2-seeded. Seeds naked, club-shaped, furrowed. Radicle 

 thick, inferior. Shrubs. Leaves alternate. Cymes long-peduncled, oppo- 

 site the leaves. 



1. V. glabra, Cav. Smooth ; leaves lanceolate-oblong, acute at each end, 

 snort-petioled ; cymes as long as the leaves, many-flowered ; lobes of the 

 corolla linear, shorter than the tube, hairy within ; style slender ; stigma 2- 

 lobed, globose below the apex. South Florida. Leaves l'-2' long. 

 Corolla 3" long. Drupe 4" long, 1-seeded. 



ORDER 96. ASCLEPIADACEJE. (MILKWEED FAMILY.) 



Erect or twining herbs or shrubs, with milky juice, entire commonly 

 opposite leaves without stipules, and umbellate or cymose flowers. 

 Calyx 5-parted, persistent. Corolla 5-parted, mostly valvato in the 

 bud, hypogynous, deciduous. Stamens 5, inserted on the base of the 



