- MILKWEED FAMILY. : 261 
serene nites ‘pidsia dls: cas ncosmeas : VORA Famity.) 
} 7 Jlowers reg 2 ‘olla. most. 
valvate in ta be rae united ‘into a tate which ensue the Siciils, the tube 
— by a crown of s or scales, at summit ; the anthers united to the stigma 
in peculiar wace wes masses as described saan the first genus ; fruit a 
; follicle, seeds compressed and mostly margined a nae comose, 
Order eee for the peculiar structure of the flowers a illustrated i poate: Prof. 
Gray es admirable text-book), and containing ; number of plants interesting to the botan- 
ist, though but few of any economical value. 
1. ASCLE’PIAS, L. Miuxweep. 
[The Greek name of 4sculapius ; to whom the genus is dedicated.] 
Calyx deeply 5-parted, aicoam fender tr small, a Corolla 
5-parted, reflexed, deciduo’ Cro of 5 hooded 1 aaa te 
tube of the stamens, each cout ita an incurved horn. Stam 
serted on the base of the ¢ rolla ; filaments united into a tae which 
encloses the pistil ; siathes sia ent to the stigma, each with two verti- 
cal cells, tipped with a membranaceous a appeniage e, each cell containin 
- a flattened pear-shaped and wasry pollen-mass ; the two contiguous 
a t, margined, im- — 
bricated ponerse “all over io large et centa which ‘separates from 
the suture at maturity, furnished with a long tuft of silky hairs atthe — 
a Perennial herbs, with thick and dee eep roots 3 peduncles terminal, : 
= td 5 oP Oils a ss 
sg 
1, A. Cornu'ti, Deca Leaves disio cratea acute, tomentose be- 
neath ; pods clothed with soft spinous projections and woolly. 
Consures’s — Silkweed. Milkweed. 
no 
- 
7 
& 
4 
a 98, 
oe 
S 
a 
— 
ae 
4 
ete 
o 
FY 
5 
ae 
ma 
ea 
Bf 
8 
na 
a 
e 
& 
4% 
u 
Umbels i ie martha’ mit of the si syetcs 2-3 seis ing 
7 length ‘wit dieser beats base ; flowers 1 
scented, many of them abortive ; divisions of the corolla o ovate, greenish-purple, a 
one-fourth the length of the pedic icels ; ; hoods of the crown ovate, obtuse, with a lobe on 
ee ee the stout set tans horn ; f i per ong og bi panieg 
Rich 
Obs. Th 
4 sh roosaliy bons motions br esters oop oof ae 
| cultural papers, difficult, 
to exterminate. It does not bear this character in the East. When 
well established in a fertile soil, its ln de — roots: will: doubtless be 
exceedingly difficult to extirpate. The seeds wafted to a 
each mena epee he plant, when 
¥ 
