594 ORDER 97. ASCLEPIADACE^E. 



lateral, shorter than the Ivs. with few large flowers; petals ovate, acute, refloxed, 

 half as long as pedicels; hoods ovate, longer than the recurved horns. Gardens. 

 Tall and elegant. Ms. scarlet, varying to white, f W. Ind. 



3. ACERA'TES, Ell. (Gr. a, privative, Kpd, horn ; the crown being 

 destitute of this process.) Calyx 5-parted ; corolla 5-parted, reflexed ; 

 crown segments 5, erect, adnatp to the anthers and destitute of either 

 horns or scales; pollinia 5 pairs, suspended by a thread-like beak; 

 otherwise as in Asclepias. 2 Lvs. opposite 6r alternate. Umbels 

 lateral. 



1 A. viridiflora Ell. Branched at base, stout, ascending, pubescent-hoary ; Ivs. 

 opposite, oval, obtuse, mucronate, petiolate, thick, varying to oblong-ovate or 

 even lanceolate, with close veinlets combined at edge into a marginal vein ; umbels 

 nearly sessile, small, dense-flowered ; petals ovate, reflexed, nearly as long as the 

 pedicels; crown segm. oblong, erect, adnate to the anthers. In gravelly soils, 

 Can. to Ga. and Ark. Sts. about 2f high. Lvs. exceedingly variable, 2to 4 to 

 G' long, wide in all proportions. Fls. small, green, inelegant, in 2 to 5 umbels. 

 Ped. 1 to 3" long. Jl. (Asclepias lanceolata Ives.) Prof. Pond sends specimens 

 from W. Ga. with the leaves all nearly orbicular ! (A. obovata Ell ?) 



2 A. xnonocepkala Lapham. Low, stout, hairy; Ivs. lanceolate, subsessile; 

 umbel solitary, terminal on the naked summit of the stem, with numerous greenish 

 llowers; crown sessile, the obtuse concave hoods erect-spreading, as long as the 

 antheridium. Prairies, "VVisc. (Mr. A. 11. Watson). Plant near If high. (As- 

 clepias lanuginosa Nutt. ?) 



3 A. longifolia Ell. Scabrous-puberulent ; st. ascending, simple; Ivs. alternate, 

 numerous, linear and lance-linear, subsessile, acute ; umbels half as long as the 

 leaves, numerous, many-flowered, pubescent, axillary, pedunculate ; crown-hoods 

 stipitate, shorter than the aniheridium. Mich, to la., and Miss., in meadows and 

 prairies. Stem stout, 2 3f high. Leaves 3 5' (including the 1 3'' petiole) by 

 3 5". Flowers very numerous in each umbel, green, peduncle and pedicels 

 about 1' long. July, Aug. 



4. ANAN'THERIX, Nutt. (Gr. a privative, avO^, a beard ; of 

 similar import with. Acerates.) Calyx short, 5-parted ; corolla 5-parted, 

 petals broadly ovate, imbricated, reflexed-spreading ; crown of 5 hol- 

 low, closed, horn-like, segments incurved, free from the anthers, double- 

 margined and furnished with a crest-like scale along the interior surface ; 

 pollinia 5 pairs, suspended by a thread-like beak. Otherwise as in 

 Asclepias. If Herbs erect, with oblong, narrow, opposite Ivs. and 

 terminal paniculate umbels. Petals leaf-like, green. 



1 A. connivens Feay. St. half-shrubby,* firm, terete, strict, puberulent ; Ivs. 

 ovnl or rather oblong, erect, subsessile, acute or obtuse ; ped. 1 to 4, somewhat 

 panicled along the nakedish summit, 7 to 12-flowered; petals oval, with a short 

 cusp ; crown .segm. thrice longer than the anthers, incurved from a spreading base 

 or arcuate, connivent over the anthers. E. Ga. in pino barrens, (Feay, Pond). 

 Sts. about 2f high. Lvs. 18 to CO" long, 4 to 9" wide. Petals 5" long. Jn. 

 (A. viridis Nutt. Asclepias connivens Baldw.) 



2 A. paniculatus Nutt. St. stout, angular, contorted, assurgent, hirsute ; Ivs. 

 narrowly oblongf obtuse, mucronate, on short petioles, pubescent ; ped. 3 to 5, 

 paniculate at the leafy summit, 5 to 9-flowered ; petals ovate, erect-spreading-, 

 crown segm. spreading, not longer than the anthers, 3 times shorter than the leaf 1 

 like petals. Ga. (Fea^, Pond) to Ark. Sts. J 2 to 18' high, very leafy. Lvs. 2 to 

 3' long. Petals G to 8" long. (Acerates paniculata Decaisne. Asclepias viridis 

 Walt.) 



5. PODOSTIG'MA, Ell. (Gr. Trour, 7ror56c, foot, oriyiia, stigma; 

 from the character.) Corolla regmer.ts 5, erect, oblong, much exceed- 

 ing the calyx ; crown pedicellate, segments 5, without horns, short, 



