Sarcostemma. ASCLEPIADACE.E. 477 



2. GOMPHOCARPTJS, E. Brown. 



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

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



Acerates, Ell., and Ananlherix, Xutt., are regarded as sections of this genus, which represents 

 Asclepias in the Old World, mainly in Africa. If the few North American species only were con- 

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



§ 1. Hoods saccate, pointless, more or less ilejieidlin'i. lower thou the outliers, open 

 wholly or partly down the back, as if 2-valved. — Schizoxotis. Gray. 



1 . G. tomentosus, Gray. "VYhite-tomentose, even to the outside of the greenish- 

 white or purplish corolla, closely resembling Asclepias vestita : stem 2 or 3 feet 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 

 ult.-ii-ln.-d, 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 back. — Acerates 

 tomentosa, Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 1 OU, t. 44. 



Var. Xanti, day. Hoods more depending, rather longer than broad, open two 

 third.- down the back. 



Dry hills, from behind San Diego northward (Parry, Thurbcr, Filch, Peckham), and on the 

 north Bide of Monte Diablo (Brewer, Bolandcr): the variety near Fort Tejon (Xanlus) and Ojai 

 ( /'■ -■/ h i,n i ; and some of the specimens from Jlonte Diablo approach it. Sepals linear-lanceolate. 

 Lobes of the corolla oblong-oval--, about -1 lines long. Hoods 2h or 3 lines long : summit of the 

 filament-sheath obtusely callous-toothed between the hoods on each side of the salient-angled base 

 of the wings of the anthers : anther-tips very large and broad. 



2. G. purpurascens, Gray. Canescently puberulent : stems ascending, a span 

 to a foot high : leaves ovate and more or less cordate, nbtusc, 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, 

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

 whole 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 Geysers, E. L. Greene. Lobes of the 

 corolla fully 2 lines and hoods one line long. Wings of the anthers lunate, not truncate and 

 led at base. 



§ 2. Hoods cucidlate, erect, open down the front, somewhat surpassing the anthers. 



3. G. cordifolius, Benth. Green and glabrous, 2 or 3 feet high : leaves o 

 or ovate-lanceolate with cordate-clasping base, mostly acute, opposite, rarely in i '■■ 



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-angled 

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

 ovate Lanceolate, smooth and glabrous. — Acerates cordifolia, Benth. PL llartw. 323. 

 .1. iitropiirpiina, lv-Hoj-j, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. i!5. Asclepias ecornntum, Kellogg, 

 1. c. 55. 



1 -'in i in the Valley of the Sacramento and through the foot-hills, up to Indian Valley and 



the Yosemite. Peduncles either short or up to 'j inches in length : pedicels an inch or 1- 

 I oh of the corolla :'■ or l lines, and hoods - lines long : a pair of linear-subulate teeth 

 Date with the hoods, one each side of the salionl angulate-truncate base of the anther-wings. 



3. SARCOSTEMMA, K brown. 



Calyx 5 parted. Corolla rotate, deepl] 5 - 1- ft, an entire or crenate ring forming 

 a eiown in its throat. Short sheath or ring of monadelphous filaments bearing 



