MlLlIWliED FAMILY. 277 



1. ASCLEPIAS, MILKWEED, SILK WEED. (Tlip Greek name of 

 ^scuiapias, father of medicine. ) Flowering in summer. 2/ 



» Flowers bright oratn/e or red; pods smooth : leaves opposite, except' in thejirst. 



A. tuberdsa, BnTTBRFLY-WEED, Pleukist Root. Dry hills : milky 

 juice hardly any ; stems and mostly scattered linear or lance-oblong leaves 

 hairy ; flowers bright orange. 



A. Curass^vioa. - Wild fai- S., cult, from S. America, as a liouso and 

 bedding plant ; nearly smootli ; leaves lanceolate ; umbels long-pedunclcd ; 

 corolla scarlet-red, the hoods orange. 



A. paup6reula. Wet barrens from N Jersey S. : tall, smooth, with 

 Ion" lance-linear leaves, one or more few-flowered umbels raised on long 

 peduncle, and red corolla with bright orange hoods. 



A. rtlbra. Low barrens from N. Jersey S. : smooth, with lance-ovate 

 gradually taper-pointed leaves, a few many-flowered umbels on a long naked 

 peduncle, and purple-red flowers. 



* * Flowers pink or light rose-purfile : leaves all opposite : pods smooth. 

 A. incarn&ita. Swamp Milkweed. Wet grounds, with very leafy 

 branching stems, lanceolate or lance-ob'.ong acute leaves, often slightly heart- 

 shaped at the base; smooth or smoothish, or in var. pulchea pubescent and 

 the leaves very short-petioled. 



* * * Flowers diiU purplish, greenish, or white. 

 ■*- Stetns branching, almost woodij at base : leaves all opposite : pods smooth. 

 A. per6nnis. Low grounds S. : nearly smooth ; leaves lanceolate or lance- 

 ovate, slender-potioled ; flowers small, white ; seeds mostly without a tuft ! 

 *- -I- Stem simple : leaves all opposite and closely sessile or clasping bij a heart- . 



shpped base, the apex rounded or notched: plants smooth, pule or glaucous. 

 A. obtusifolia. Sandy grounds, 2° -3° high, the rather remote broadly 

 oblong leaves wavy ; umbel mostly solitary, long-peduncled ; flowers pretty 

 lai-ge, greenish-purplish. 



A. amplexicafllis. Dry barrens S. ; stems reclining, l°-2°high, very 

 leafy ; leaves ovate-heart-shaped ; umbels severaly short-peduncled ; corolla ash- 

 colored, the hoods white. 

 •*-■!-■<- Stem simple or nearly so, leafy to the top : leaves all opposite, ovate, oval, 

 or oblong, pntty large, short-petioled : umbels latera'l and terminal : Jlowers 

 ^' long or nearly so. 



** Pods beset with sojl prickle-shaped or warty projections. 

 A. Cornuti, Common Milkweei> of fields and low grounds N. : downy, 

 or the large pale leaves soon smooth above; flowers dull greenish-purplish. 



■n- -H- Pods even, but usually minutely downy, 

 A. phytolaceoides, Poke -Milkweed. Moist grounds N. & W. : 



smooth or smoothish, 3° - .5° high ; leaves large, pointed or acute at both ends ; 



umbels loose, the long pedicels ( 1' -3') equalling the peduncle ; corolla greenish, 



bat the more conspicuous hoods white. 

 A. purpurasoens. Eich ground N. & W. : 1° - 3° high ; leaves downy 



beneath, smooth above, the upper taper-pointed ; pedicels of the rather loose 



umbel shorter than the peduncle ; corolla dark dull purple. 

 A. variegata. Dry grounds, commoner S. & W. : l°-2° high, nearly 



smooth ; leaves oval or obovate, slightly wavy ; peduncle and crowded pedicels 



short and downy ; corolla white, the hoods purplish. 



1- t- t- ^-■ Steins simple or rare/y branched, slender : leaves most of than in whorls : 

 pods slender and smooth : Jlowers small, white or whitish, 



A. C[Uadrif61ia, Pour-leaved M. Rocky woods mostly N. : stems 1° 

 - 2° high, nearly smooth, naked below, bearing about the middle one or two \ 

 whorls of 4 ovate or lance-ovate taper-pointed petiolcd leaves, and beneath or 

 .ibove them usually a pair of smaller ones ; pedicels slender ; corolla mostly 

 tinged with pink, the hoods white. 



