180 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 



1. A. cannabinum, L. Indian Hemp. Stem erect, smooth, with 

 numerous erect or ascending branches. Leaves oval to oblong, 

 muoronate at the apex, rounded at the base, downy beneath, short- 

 petioled. Cymes terminal, compact, shorter than the leaves. Flowers 

 are on short, bracted pedicels, greenish-white, about ^ in. broad. 

 Calyx-lobes lanceolate, nearly as long as the tube of the coroUa. 

 Corollas-lobes erect. Pods very slender, tapering, 3-4 in. long. 

 Along fences and in thickets.* 



2. A. androsaemifolium, L. Dogbane. Plant 2-3 ft. high, 

 usually smooth, purplish, the branches spreading and forking. 

 Leaves 2-3 in. long, acute, mucronate, petioles about i.in. long. 

 Cymes mostly terminal, few-flowered. Calyx-teeth lance-ovate, 

 about half as long as the corolla-tube. Corolla pale red or whitish, 

 its lobes reom-ved. Pods stouter than in No. 1. Roadsides and 

 clearings, common. 



IV. HERIUM, L. 



Shrubs. Leaves mostly whorled in threes. Flowers in termi- 

 nal cymes. Calyx small, lobes acute. Corolla salver-form, 

 the throat of the tube crowned with cleft or cut-fringed 

 scales. Stamens 5, short, included ; anthers tipped with a 

 hairy bristle. Ovary of 2 carpels ; style short. Pods erect, 

 seeds with a tuft of hairs.* 



1. N. Oleander, L. Oleandek. Stem erect, diffusely branched 

 from below, 4-10 ft. high. Leaves narrowly elliptical, acute at each 

 end, thick and leathery, short-petioled. Flowers showy, in large 

 clusters, red or white, often double ; scales of the crown 3-4-pointed 

 unequal teeth ; pods spindle-shaped, 3-4 in. long. Introduced from 

 Palestine, common in cultivation.* 



81. ASCLEPIADACE.S;. Milkweed Family. 



Shrubs or herbs, often twining ; juice usually milky. 

 Leaves generally opposite or whorled, entire, without stipules. 

 Flowers regular. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 6-parted. Sta- 

 mens 6 ; the filaments usually cohering around the styles, 

 often with hood-like appendages, each with an incurved horn 

 borne on the stamen-tube and forming a crown around the 

 stigma (Fig. 20, A) ; anthers pressing against the lobes of the 

 stigma ; the pollen clinging together in tough, waxy or fine- 



