TIME OF BLOOM 



er. 



76 PLANTS GROWING IN MUD. 



SWAMP MILKWEED. 



Asdepias iiicarndta. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE 



Milkweed. Crimson. Scentless. Maine to Louisiana. 'juTy^Sefleml 



Flowers: perfect; regular; growing in terminal umbels. Calyx- of five 

 sepa s the tube very short Corolla ; funnel-form, with five reflexed lobes that 

 nearly hide the sepals 1 he next inner row of upright bodies are hoods, or 

 nectaries that enclose five little incurved horns ; and under these horns are the 

 stamens and pistils. Sfa7ne7ts : five, with fringed tips that are not the anthers 

 Afitkers: attached to the short filaments by their bases and uniting and en- 

 closing the pistils. Fallen : in distinct little masses within the anthers • two 

 being attached together by a thread. Fislils : two; united above into a flat 

 sticky disk. Frint : a pair of pods with numerous seeds and soft, silky hairs • 

 seldom more than one becoming fully developed. Lea^Jes : narrow; oblone • 

 somewhat heart-shaped at base. Stem: two to three feet high; very leaflv' 

 smooth, with little milky juice. ^ ^' 



Of this very striking and handsome family Professor Britton 

 says: "There are about 220 genera and 1900 species of very 

 wide distribution." 



The flowers are difficult, but not impossible, for the non- 

 botanist to analyse ; and the attempt will at all events pique 

 one's curiosity enough to encourage him to pry closely into 

 their intricacies. 



The milkweeds are entirely dependent on insects for fertiliza- 

 tion ; as the pollen masses lie too low in the blossoms to reach 

 the stigma. It is for this reason that they have provided them- 

 selves with the little hoods that hold the nectar, as it could not 

 be retained by the reflexed corolla lobes. Bees, therefore, visit 

 the plants gladly, and when their feet become entangled in the 

 tiny thread that holds together the pollen masses they carry 

 them off without complaining. A. Syriaca, page 280, Plate 

 CXLIV. 



A. lanceolata, {Plate XXXIII) is a brilliant variety of the 

 swamps that occurs southward from New Jersey to Florida and 

 Texas. The umbels have but few flowers, very large and 

 showy, and are of an intense orange-red colour. It blooms in 

 July and August. 



