ORDER 97. ASCLEPIADACE^E. 5&1 



III. GONOLOBE^E. Filaments connate, Pollinia 10, in pairs, horizontal, (c) 



C Corolla wheel-shaped. Plants twining, with cordate leaves GOKOLOBUS. S 



IV. ST-tPELlE^E. Filaments connate. Pollinia 10, ascending or erect, (d) 



d Crown simple, of 5 fleshy segments. Twining. Cultivated HOYA. 9 



d Crown double, an outer and an inner. Not twining. Cultivated STAPELIA. 10 



1. PERIP'LOCA, L. (Gr. Kept, around, Tr/to/co^, a binding or twin- 

 ing ; from the habit of the plant.) Calyx minute ; corolla rotate, flat, 

 5-parted, orifice surrounded by a 5-cleft, urceolate corona, terminating 

 in 5 filiform awns ; filaments distinct, anthers cohering, bearded on the 

 back; pollinia solitary, 4-lobed; follicles 2, smooth, divaricate; seeds 

 comous. Twining shrubs. Fls. in umbels or cymes. 



P. Grseca L. Lvs. ovate, acuminate ; corymbs axillary ; cor. villous -within. A 

 climbing shrub, 10 15f long, sparingly naturalized in Western N. Y., also culti- 

 vated in gardens. Leaves opposite, 3 4' long, ^ as wide, and on petioles ^' long. 

 Flowers in long, branching, axillary peduncles. Sepals minute, lanceolate, acute. 

 Petals very hairy within, linear, obtuse, dark purple. Follicles about 2' long. 

 Aug. S. Eur. 



2. ASCLE'PIAS, L. MILK WEED. (From Esculapius, the fabulous 

 god of medicine and physicians.) Calyx deeply 5-parted ; corolla deeply 

 5-parted, valvate in aestivation, finally reflexed; staminal corona 5- 

 leavcd, leaflets cucullate, with an averted horn-like process from the 

 base curved towards the stigma ; antheridium (connate mass of anthers) 

 5 -angled, truncate, opening by 5 longitudinal fissures ; pollinia (masses 

 of pollen) 5 distinct pairs fixed by the attenuated apex to a cleft gland, 

 pendulous ; follicles 2, ventricous; seeds comous.- 2 Mostly N. Ameri- 

 can, with opposite, verticillate, rarely alternate Ivs. Umbels between 

 the petioles. 



Leaves linear, long and narrow (lance-linear in the cultivated No. 19). (*) 



* Leaves all opposite, or rarely the highest alternate Nos. 17 19 



* Leaves mostly scattered or verticillate Nos. 15, II? 



Leaves broader, ovate, lanceolate, &c. Plants all native. (2) 



2 Stems dividing above into branches, corymbed or paniclecl Nos. 13, 14 



2 Stems simple. Leaves sessile, cordate-clasping at base Nos. 11, 12 



2 Stems simple. Leaves petiolate, the petioles often quito short. (3) 



3 Flowers (small) with a white crown and purplish-white corolla Nos. S 10 



3 Flowers with a white crown and greenish-white corolla Nos. 5 1 



3 Flowers (large) with both crown and corolla purple-tinged. (4) 



4 Follicles smoothish (as are all the foregoing) Xos. 3, 4 



4 Follicles sprinkled with soft warty spines Nos. 1, 2 



1 A. corniiti Decaisne. Simple, stout ; Ivs. oblong-ovate, short-acuminate, short- 

 petiolate, downy beneath ; pedicels shorter than the leaves, densely many-flow- 

 ered ; ccr. lobes ovate reflexed, 4 times shorter than the pedicils ; hoods of the 

 crown ovate, obtuse, not longer than the uncinato horn. A common, very milky 

 herb, 3 to 4f high, in hedges and road-sides. .Lvs. 5 to 8' by 2 to 3'; veinlets, 

 as in most species, nearly at right angles to the midvcin. Pcd. stout, between 

 the petioles, bearing a globular umbel of a hundred greenish purplo flowers, few 

 of which prove fruitful. Pods full of seeds with their long silk. Jl. 



2 A. Sullivantii Engel. Tall, very smooth; Ivs. ovate-oblong, erect, cordate, on 

 very short petioles ; hoods of the crown obovale, obtuso and entire at apex, obtusely 

 auriculato without on each side at 'base; horns slender but obtuso ; follicles with 

 scattered, warty spines. Near Columbus, Ohio (" Sullivant." Mr. A. II. "Watson). 

 Said to resemble A. cornuti in foliage and fruit, but remarkably different in its 

 crown. Petals 4 to 5" long, greenish purple. Hoods twice as long as the an- 

 thers. Jl. 



3 A. purpurascens L. St. ^raple, erect, puberulent; Ivs. elliptical, ovate-dlip' 

 tical or ovate, mucronate, narrowed at base into a short petiole, smooth above, 

 tomentous-pubescent and paler beneath; ped. terminal, shorter than the leaves; 

 hoods oblong or lance-ovate, obtuse, horns falcate, acute, abruptly^ lent to hori- 

 zontal. In hedges and thickets, N". II., Mass, to Wis, and Ky. St. 3f or more 



