92 ASCLEPIADACE^. Asclepias. 



= = Umbels usually more than one and on peduncles overtopping or equalling the leaves : stein 

 tall and simple: leaves broad, resembling those of the three preceding species. 

 A glaucescens, HBK. Glabrous up to the peduncles, and inclined to be glaucous : 

 leaves as of A. obtiisifolia, but only slightly undulate, 2^ to 4 inches long : umbels 2 to 4 or 

 rarely solitary, many-flowered : pedicels pubescent or villous, rather short : corolla greenish- 

 white ; the lobes ovate, 3 or 4 lines long : column very short : hoods obovate-truncate, 

 about equalling the anthers, with fleshy gibbous-incurved back and (white ■? ) petaloid sides, 

 the whole length within occupied by a broad and thin crest, which is 2-lobed at the sum- 

 mit the outer lobe broad and rounded, the inner a short and triangular-subulate nearly 

 included horn. —Nov. Gen. & Spec. iii. 290, 1. 127 ; Decaisne in DC. 1. c. 505. A. SuUivantn, 

 Torn Bot. Mex. Bound. 162, wholly 1 — S. W. Texas and New Mexico (but the only 

 specimen in herb. Torr. from " Plains near the Rio Limpio "), Bigelow. (Mex.) 

 ^ = =, Umbels more than one, on peduncles longer than the orbiciUar leaves or than the much 

 abbreviated stem. 

 A nummularia, Torr. Clustered stems an inch or two high : leaves in 2 or 3 approxi- 

 mated pairs, orbicular, mucronate, thickish, canescently toraentose, glabrate with age : 

 peduncles H to 2 inches long, many-flowered: corolla greenish-white; the lobes ovate, 

 2 lines long : column hardly any : hoods ovate, a little longer than the anthers : the horn 

 short and stout : folUcles ovate-lanceolate, tomentulose. — Bot. Mex. Bound. 163, t. 45. — 

 New Mexico, Bigelow, Thurber, &c. (Adjacent Mex.) 



^ ^. = = Umbels mostly more than one: peduncle not overtopping the leaves (except per- 

 haps in A. cinerea ), sometimes none. 

 o. Leaves broad (from orbicular to oblong-lanceolate), proportionally large : hoods broad, little if 

 at all overtopping the anthers: stems from a foot to a yard or more m height, except the lirst 

 species. 

 1. Glabrous or some minute pubescence or tomentum on young parts, no floccose wool. 

 A cryptoceras Watson. A span or two high, almost completely glabrous : stems 

 decumbent : leaves 3 or 4 pairs, ovate-orbicular with mucronate apiculation, glaucescent, 



1 or 2 inches long, very short-petioled : flowers large, all at the summit, few in each of the 



2 or 3 umbels : the lateral of these sessile, the terminal short-peduncled : lobes of the 

 greenish-yellow corolla ovate, 6 lines long : column none : hoods flesh-colored, saccate- 

 ovate abruptly and minutely bi-acuminate, equalling the anthers, enclosing the falcate- 

 subulkte horn : follicles ovate. — King Exped. 283, t. 28. Acerates latifoUa, Torr. in Frem. 

 Rep. ed. 2, 317. — Utah, W. Nevada, and Idaho, Nuttall, Fremont, Watson, &c. 



A ampleiicaulis, Michx. Glaucous and glabrous : stems decumbent, a foot or two 

 long- leaves in numerous rather crowded pairs, cordate-ovate and clasping, obtuse, suc- 

 culent whitish-veiny, 3 to 5 inches long : peduncles about half the length of the leaves, 

 longer than the numerous slender pedicels: lobes of the greenish-purplish corolla oblong, 



3 lines long : column very short : hoods white, obovate-truncate, nearly enclosing the tri- 

 angular-arcuate crest-like horn : follicles ovate-lanceolate. — Fl. i. 113 ; Ell. Sk. i. 322. A. 

 himistrata, Walt. Car. 105, except " floribus rubris." — Dry sandy barrens, North Carohna 

 to Florida. 



A. Jamesii, Torr. Farinose-puberulent when young, soon green and glabrous : stem 

 stout, erect' or ascending, a foot or more high : leaves about 5 pairs, approximate, re- 

 markably thick and large (when dry coriaceous, the larger 4 to 6 inches long), orbicular 

 or broadly oval, often emarginate and with a mucronation, subcordate at base, nearly 

 sessile copiously transversely veined : umbels 2 or 3, all or mostly lateral, densely many- 

 flowered, on peduncles shorter than the pedicels : flowers greenish : lobes of the corolla 

 ovate, 4 or 5 lines long : column very short but distinct : hoods barely equalhng the an- 

 thers,' broad, with truncate entire summit, which is equalled by the upper margin of the 

 falciform-triangular crest, the apex of which extends into a short subulate horn partly 

 over the top of the stigmatic disk : follicles turgid-ovate, barely acute, 2^ or 3 inches long. 

 — Bot. Mex. Bound. 162. A. ohtusifoUa, var. latifoUa, Torr. m Ann. Lye. ii. 117. — Plains 

 of Colorado to W. Texas and E. Arizona. 



A. phytolaccoides, Pursh. Bright green and glabrous : stem 4 or 5 feet high : leaves 

 membranaceous, from oval to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at both ends, short-petioled, 

 4 to 8 inches long: peduncles (1 or 2 inches long) seldom longer than the numerous fili- 

 form lax pedicels : corolla greenish ; the lobes ovate or oblong, 4 luies long : column short : 



