Asclcpias. ASCLEPIADACEiB. 95 



c. Leaves extremely narrow, sessile : hoods thrice the length of the anthers, slender, acute, open. 



A. macrotis, Torr. Glabrous or nearly so : stems barely a span high, numerous and 

 nrach brancliL'd from a suffrutescent thickened base : leaves narrowly linear with revolute 

 margins, almost filiform, an inch or more long : umbels 3-5-flowered, terminal and lateral, 

 short-peduncled or sessile : pedicels little longer tlian the purplish or greenish flowers : 

 corolla-lobes ovate, 2 lines long : column hardly any : hoods with ovate erect base as long 

 as the anthers, above contracted into a gradually attenuate twice longer subulate spreading 

 portion, the aj)ex incurving; tlie broad horn short and blunt, with barely exserted apex; 

 follicles ovate-lanceolate, an inch long. — Bot. Mex. Bound. 164, t. 45. — Rocky hills along 

 the Rio (Jrande, borders of Texas, New Mexico, and CMhuahua, especially near El Paso, 

 Bigelow, Parry, M'rirfht. 



d. Leaves from ovate to oblong, mostly pubescent or pub.Brulent : stems erect, a foot or more high : 

 hoods obtuse, twice or thrice the length of the anthers, not tapering to base, entire at summit, 



1. Involute-concave or more open ; the falcate or subulate horn free at or below the middle of the 

 hood, and incurved or intlcxed over the stigmatic disk ; follicles tomentose or soft-pubescent. 



' A. ovalifolia, Decaisne. Tomentulose-pubescent : stem rather slender : leaves thin- 

 nish, from ovate or oval to ovate-lanceolate, mostly acute, rounded at base, distinctly 

 petioled (1|- to 3 inches long), glabrate with ago, at least the upper face, the midrib as 

 well as primary veins slender, and veinlets reticulated : umbels few, loosely 10-18-flowered, 

 on peduncles which seldom equal the pedicels, or sometimes sessile : corolla greenish-white 

 witli purplish outside ; the lobes oblong-ovate, 2 or 3 lines long : hoods oval or broadly 

 oblong in outline, not auriculate at base, the inner margins below the middle extended into 

 a large acute tooth or lobe ; the horn broad and rather short : anther-wings rounded and 

 entire or minutely and obscurely notched at the prominent base. — UC. Prodr. viii. 567 

 (excl. habitat) ; Gray, Man. ed. 5, 396. A. vartegata, var.. Hook. Fl. ii. 252, t. 141. ^1. Xut- 

 talliana, Gray, Man. ed. 2, 352, 704. — Saskatchewan, Lake Winnipeg, and Dakotah to N. 

 Illinois and Wisconsin, in oak-openings and prairies. 



' A.. Hallii, Gray. Puberulent, glabrate : stem stout : leaves thickish, ovate-lanceolate or 

 oblong-lanceolate with rounded base and rather acute ape.x (3 to 5 inches long), short- 

 petioled, the stout midrib and the slightly ascending straight veins prominent underneath : 

 umbels few and corymbose, many-flowered, on peduncles somewhat longer than the 

 pedicels : corolla greenish-white and purplish ; the lobes oblong, 3 lines long : hoods elon- 

 gated-oblong in outline (3 lines long), entire, hastately 2-gibbous above the narrower base, 

 a little surpassing the sickle-shaped horn : anther-wings even and unappendaged at base. 

 — Proc. Am. Acad. viii. 69. A. ovalifolia, Gray in Proc. Acad. Philad. March, 186.3, 75, 

 colL E. Hall. ii. 480. — Colorado, near Denver? E. Hall. Head-waters of the Arkansas, 

 Braiidegee, &c. Follicles tomcntulose, glabrate. In aspect resembles A. Snlliuantii, but with 

 some pubescence, and base of the anther-wings destitute of the corniculation. 



A. obovata, Ell. Cinereous with soft pubescence or tomentum on the lower face of the 

 leaves : stem a foot or two high : leaves oval or oblong, only the lower pbovate, somewhat 

 undulate, mucronate-apiculate, rounded or subcordate at base, very short-petioled (1^ to 3 

 inches long), the midrib stout, the veins transverse and slender : umbels (3 or 4 at the 

 upper axils) almost sessile, densely 10-14-flowered : lobes of the yellowish-green corolla 

 oblong, 3 or 4 lines long, half the length of the pedicels : hoods purplish, oblong, strictly 

 erect (3 or 4 lines long), involute so that the thin inner edges meet for almost their whole 

 length, dorsally hastately bigibbous above a sliort contracted base, thence narrowly wing- 

 appendaged upward and inward for some length, a pair of broad and short fleshy internal 

 auricles at very base within ; horn narrowly falcate, fleshy ; the exserted upper part of 

 the free portion strongly inflexed, subulate, its upper or dorsal face caniculate-concave : 

 anther-wings bicorniculate at the basal angle (in the manner of A . ohtiixifolia and A. Sul- 

 limntii). — Sk. i. 321 ; Decaisne, 1. e. 570 (excl. syn. Torr.) ; Chapm. PL 303. —Dry ground, 

 S. Carolina, near the coast, to Florida and Louisiana, 



2. Hoods laterallv much compressed, mainly solid, with a narrow dorsal keel and a broader ventral 

 wing ; the latter bearius' two semi-obovate lamellae, its broad upper part enclosing a lamelliform 

 crest of equal width, ^vliich bears a short subulate exserted horn at the inner angle. 



A. nyctaginif olia, Gray. Roughish-puberulent, apparently a foot high and ascending : 

 leaves rhombic-ovate, with ascending and branching veins, 2 or 3 inches long, rather long- 

 petioled : umbels all lateral, very short-petioled, 4-8-flowered : pedicels equalling the 



