ASCLEPUS. 95 



" 2. Pulckra. Water-Silk-Weed, lias nearly erect stems, 

 four or five feet high ; umbels very small ; flowers crimson- 

 purple. Grows on low, wet land, by the side of ponds. 



" 3. Variegata. Variegated. Leaves rough, umbels com- 

 pact and come out from the side of the stalk ; flowers of an 

 herbaceous odor. 



"4. Nivea. White, or Almond-leaved. Stalks two feet 

 high, and of a dark green. Leaves deep green above, and pale 

 beneath, smooth and rather stiff. Flowers green, with white 

 nectaries. 



" 5. Incarnata, Flesh-colored, has several upright stalks 

 about two feet high, at the top of which are produced close 

 umbels of purple flowers ; blooms in August. 



" 6. Decumbens. The stalks are declining, hairy, a foot 

 and a half high; leaves narrow; umbels compact, at the 

 extremity of the branches ; flowers a bright orange color. 



"7. Verticillata. Stalks slender, upright; umbels at the 

 extremity of the stems ; leaves in whorls of four, five, and six 

 together ; flowers small and of a greenish-white color. Found 

 in Roxbury and Dedharn ; blooms in July. 



" 8. Tuberosa. Butterfly-weed. Root large, fleshy, branch- 

 ing and somewhat fusiform, but it is only by comparison with 

 other species that it can be called tuberous ; stems numerous, 

 growing in bunches from the root, hairy and dusky red; 

 flowers numerous, erect, and of a beautiful bright orange color ; 

 grows in Woburn and Newton ; blooms in August. 



" 9. Obtusifolia. Blunt-leaved. Stems erect, supporting a 

 terminal umbel, at a distance from the leaves, which are oppo- 

 site, ovate, heart-shaped at the base ; flowers large, of a green- 

 ish-white, tinged with red; it is found in Cambridge and 

 Mount Auburn ; blooms in July. 



" 10. Phytoloccoides. Poke-leaved. A tall, large-flowering 

 species, of a delicate appearance ; stem erect, four or five feet 

 high ; leaves large ; umbels nodding, flowers large, petals 

 green, nectaries white or flesh-colored ; grows in low grounds ; 

 blooms in June. 



