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 subterininal, 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 riibra 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. 



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, 1-2 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 mrn. 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 quadrifolia 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-spreading, 

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



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