Sarcostemma. ASCLEPIADACE/E. 



477 



2. GOMPHOCARPUS, R. Biowii. 



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

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



Acerafes, Ell, ami ^m»;<^W^ Nutt., are regarded as sections of this genus, which represents 

 Mcl^-ptas in the Old World, mainly m Africa. Jf the few Nortli American species only were con- 

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



§ 1. Ilonds saccate, pointless, more or less depending, loiver tlnvi the anthers, open 

 wholly or partly doion the hack, as if 2-valved. — Schizonotus, Gray. 



1 . G. tomentOSUS, Gray. White-toraentose, even to the outside of tho greenish- 

 whito urpuridish corolla, closely resembling J sc/cy^ms vestita : stem 2 or 3 leet 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 hack. — Acerates 

 tomcvfosn, Torr. lint. ]\I(>x. Hound. IGO, t. 44. 



Var. Xanti, Gray. Hoods nioro (lei)('n(ling, rather longer than broad, open two 

 thirds down the back. 



Dry liills, from behind San Diego nortliward (Parr!/, Thurbcr, Filch, Pcckhnm), and on the 

 north side ol Monte Diablo {Brcicrr, Bolandcr): the variety near Fort Tejon {Xnnlus) and Oiai 

 {leckhim) ■ 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 tho wings of the anthcra : anther-tips very large and broad. ° 



2. G. purpurascens, Gra^'. Canescently puberulent : stems ascending, a span 

 to a foot iiigh : 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, 

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

 Avhole 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 Ooysers, E. L. Greene. Lobes of the 

 corolla fully 2 linos and hoods ono lino long. Wings of tho anthora lunato, not truncate and 

 angled at imso. 



§ 2. Hoods cucullate, erect, open down the front, somewhat snrpassin<; the anthers. 



3. G. 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-an<tled 

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

 ovate-lanceolate, smooth and n^ahvom. — Acerates cordifolia, Benth. PI. Hartw 323 

 A. atropurpurea, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. G5. Asdepias ecornntnm, Kellocrcr, 

 1. c. 55. ^'^ 



Common in the Valloy of the Sacrnmcnto and through tho foot-hills, up to Indian Valley and 

 ^Z }= r H ,7 "?'■''' .•"!•'"■ ''''";^ "'' "r **' 2 inches in longth : pedicHs an inch or loss long. 



LVn l?fl, 1° T Y ""■ ^ ,'"'• 1- "'!•'' ,''""''" 2 '"'"'' '""K • ^ i-'ii'- "'• li-.<'ar-subulate teeth alter- 

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



3. SARCOSTEMMA, W. I!mwn. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla rotate, deojily 5-cleft, an entire or crenato ring forming 

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



