Sarcostemma. ASCLEPIADACE.E. 477 



2. GOMPHOCARPUS, R. Brown. 



No horn to the hoods of the stamens : otherwise as Asclepias ; equally diverse in 

 the form of the hoods, &c. Benth. & Hook. Gen. PL ii. 753. 



Aceratcs, Ell., and Ananthcrix, Nutt., are regarded as sections of this genus, which represents 

 Asclepias in the Old World, mainly in Africa. If the few North American species only were con- 

 cerned, they were better reunited to Asclepias. Our first section is peculiar. 



1. Hoods saccate, pointless, more or less depending, lower than the anthers, open 

 wholly or partly down the back, as if 2-valved. SCHIZONOTUS, Gray. 



1 . Gr. tomentOSUS, Gray. White-tomentose, even to the outside of the greenish- 

 white or purplish corolla, closely resembling Asclepias vestita : stem 2 or 3 feet high, 

 acutely angled : leaves opposite, ovate or oblong, acutely acuminate (about 4 inches 

 long) : umbels nearly sessile, rather few-flowered : filament-sheath manifest under 

 the crown ; the hoods almost orbicular in outline, laterally compressed, centrally 

 attached, reaching to near the middle of the anthers, 2-valved fully half-way round, 

 i. e. from the upper edge of the insertion to the middle of the back. Acerates 

 tornentosa, Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 160, t. 44. 



Var. Xanti, Gray. Hoods more depending, rather longer than broad, open two 

 thirds down the back. 



Dry hills, from behind San Diego northward (Parry, Thurber, Fitch, Pcckham), and on the 

 north side of Monte Diablo (Brewer, Bolander) : the variety near Fort Tejon (Xantus) and Ojai 

 (Peckham) ; and some of the specimens from Monte Diablo approach it. Sepals linear-lanceolate. 

 Lobes of the corolla oblong-ovate, about 4 lines long. Hoods 2 or 3 lines long : summit of the 

 filament-sheath obtusely callous-toothed between the hoods on each side of the salient-angled base 

 of the wings of the anthers : anther-tips very large and broad. 



2. G-. purpurascens, Gray. Canescently puberulent : stems ascending, a span 

 to a foot high : leaves ovate and more or less cordate, obtuse, thickish (an inch or 

 two long), short-petioled : flowers small, numerous in a compact umbel : peduncle 

 longer than the pedicels : lobes of the red-purple corolla oblong : hoods white, oval, 

 wholly below the short greenish anthers, adnate by their whole length to nearly the 

 whole length of the filament-sheath, dorsally 2-valved from top to bottom. Proc. 

 Am. Acad. x. 76. 



Lake Co., on the exposed summit of a mountain near the Geysers, E. L. Greene. Lobes of the 

 corolla fully 2 lines and hoods one line long. Wings of the anthers lunate, not truncate and 

 angled at base. 



2. Hoods cucullate, erect, open down the front, somewhat surpassing the anthers. 



3. Gr. cordifolius, Benth. Green and glabrous, 2 or 3 feet high : leaves ovate 

 or ovate- lanceolate with cordate-clasping base, mostly acute, opposite, rarely in threes, 

 2 to 5 inches long : umbels loosely many-flowered : pedicels long and filiform : 

 calyx hairy ; its lobes lanceolate : corolla dark red-purple ; the lobes oval : filament- 

 sheath short : hoods purplish, thin, oblong, with obliquely truncate and acute-angled 

 summit, attached at and near the base, the fissure down the front narrow : follicles 

 ovate-lanceolate, smooth and glabrous. Acerates cordifolia, Benth. PI. Hartw. 323. 

 A. atropurpurea, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 65. Asclepias ecornutum, Kellogg, 

 1. c. 55. 



Common in the Valley of the Sacramento and through the foot-hills, up to Indian Valley and 

 the Yosemite. Peduncles either short or up to 2 inches in length : pedicels an inch or less long. 

 Lobes of the corolla 3 or 4 lines, and hoods 2 lines long : a pair of linear-subulate teeth alter- 

 nate with the hoods, one each side of the salient angulate-truncate base of the anther-wings. 



3. SARCOSTEMMA, R. Brown. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla rotate, deeply 5-cleft, an entire or crenate ring forming 

 a crown in its throat. Short sheath or ring of monadelphous filaments bearing 



