352 ASCLEPIADACE^E. (.MILKWKED FAMILY.) 



2. A. Snllivaiitii, Engelm. Mss. Very smooth throughout, tall; leaves 

 ovate-oblong from a heart-shaped sessile, base, erect ; hoods of the crown olovate, entity, 

 obtusely 2-tarcd at the base on the outside, with a slender but obti:.se elaw-like 

 honi ; pods ovate-lanceolate, with small and scattered warty spines chiejly on the beak. 

 Near Columbus, Ohio, Sullivant. W. Illinois, Engdmann. July. Resem- 

 bles No. 1 in appearance, in the petals, &c. ; the hoods larger, and exceeding 

 the anthers by one half. 



* * Pods not warty-roughened or prickly. 



- Leaves all or chiefly opposite, or the middle ones sometimes in fours. 

 n- Stems simple or nearly so (above usually with 2 lines of minute pubescence). 



3. A. pliytolaccoides, Pursli. (POKE-MILKWEED.) Stem (3 -5 

 high) smooth; leaves broadly ovate, or the upper oval-lanceolate and pointed at both 

 ends, short-petioled, smooth or slightly downy underneath (5' -8' long) ; pedicels 

 loose and nodding, numerous, long and slender (I 7 -3' long), equalling the pedun- 

 cle, many times longer than the ovate-oblong divisions of the (greenish) corolla ; hoods 

 of the crown (white) truncate, the margins 2-toothcd at the summit, the horn 

 ivith a long projecting aid-shaped point ; pods minutely downy. Moist copses ; 

 common. June. 



4. A. purpurascens, L. (PURPLE MILKWEED.) Stem rather slen- 

 der (2 -3 high) ; leaves elliptical or ovate-oblong, the lower mucronate, the upper 

 taper-pointed, minutely velvety-downy underneath, smooth above, contracted at the 

 lose into a short petiole ; pedicels shorter than the mostly terminal peduncle, about 

 twice the length of the dark purple lanceolate-ovate divisions of the corolla ; hoods of 

 the crown oblong, abruptly narrowed above ; the horn broadly scythe-shaped, with 

 a narrow and abruptly in flexed horizontal point ; pods smooth. (A. amoena, L., 

 Michx.) Border of woods, &c., N. England to Michigan and Kentucky: com- 

 mon westward. July. Flowers as large as in No. 1: peduncle and pedicels 

 downy along one side. 



5. A. variogata, L. (VAKIEGATED MILKWEED.) Nearly smooth 

 (l-2high); leaves ovate, oval, or obovate, somewhat wavy, mucronate, con- 

 tracted into short petioles ; pedicels (numerous and crowded) and peduncle short, downy ; 

 divisions of the corolla ovate (ichite) ; hoods of the crown orbicular, entire, the 

 horn semilunar with a horizontal point; pods slightly downy. (A. nivea, L., 

 in part. A. hybrida, Michx.) Dry woods, S. New York to Wisconsin and 

 southward. July. Remarkable for its very compact umbels of nearly white 

 flowers, often purple in the centre. Leaves 4 5 pairs, the middle ones some- 

 times whorled; veins often purple. Peduncles 1-3, usually |' long. 



6. A. Nllttalliaiia, Torr. (excl. char.?) Low (6' -15' high), soft- 

 downy, especially the lower side of the ovate or lance-oblong acute slightly petioled 

 leaves; umbels loosely 10- 18-floivered, either sessile or peduneled ; pedicels slen- 

 der ('-!' long) ; hoods of the crown oblong, obtuse, yellowish, with a small 

 horn, about the length of the oval greenish-white divisions of the corolla (which 

 are tinged with purple outside). (A. lanuginosa, Nutt.) Prairies and Oak- 

 openings, N. Illinois, Vasey, Wisconsin, Latham, anr westward. June. 

 L<-:ives l'-3' long, !'-!' wide, smoothish above, the upper soineiimes scat- 

 tered. Flowers about as large as in the next. 



