GENUS 2. MILKWEED FAMILY. 33 
2. ASCLEPIODORA A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 12: 66. 1876. 
Erect or decumbent perennial herbs, similar to Asclepias, with alternate or opposite 
entire leaves, and rather large flowers in terminal solitary or corymbed umbels. Sepals lan- 
ceolate. Corolla rotate, its segments spreading. Hoods oblong, inserted over the whole of 
the very short corona-column, curved upward, obtuse, crested within, at least in the upper 
part, slightly longer than the anther; at the sinuses between the hoods a small lobe or 
appendage, alternate with the anther-wings, simulating an inner crown. Anthers tipped with 
a scarious membrane, their wings horny, narrowed below, sometimes angled above the middle. 
Pollen-masses pendulous, pyriform, longer than their caudicles. Follicles ovoid or oblong, 
acuminate, with or without soft spinose processes, erect or ascending on the decurved or 
twice bent fruiting pedicels. Seeds comose. [Greek, gift of Aesculapius.] 
Five or six species, natives of the southern United States and Mexico. Type species: Asclepio- 
dora viridis (Walt.) A, Gray. 
Glabrous or nearly so; leaves oblong to ovate-lanceolate ; umbels corymbose. 1, A. viridis, 
Stem rough-puberulent ; leaves lanceolate or linear, acuminate; umbels solitary. 2. A. decumbens. 
1. Asclepiodora viridis (Walt.) A. Gray. ne Ve gn J) (i 
Soe 
/ \ 
Oblong-leaved Milkweed. Fig. 3407. XC 
er 
Asclepias viridis Walt. Fl. Car. 107. 1788. 
Asclepiodora viridis A, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 12: 
66. 1876. 
Stem erect, puberulent above, simple, 1°-2° 
high. Leaves oblong to ovate-lanceolate, rather 
thin, obtuse and mucronulate or acute at the 
apex, narrowed or rounded at the base, short- 
petioled, 23’-5’ long, 4-13’ wide; umbels 2-4, 
or sometimes solitary; peduncles 14’-2’ long; 
pedicels slender, about 3’ long; corolla green- 
ish, its segments, when expanded, oblong, ob- 
tuse or acute, 4-6” long, 2-3 times as long as 
the purplish or violet entire-margined hoods; 
anther-wings narrow, scarcely angled above; 
fruiting pedicels twice bent; follicles ascend- 
ing, puberulent, 2’-3’ long, sometimes with soft 
spinose projections. 
In dry soil, Tlinois to Kansas, Texas, South 
Carolina and Florida. May-July. 
2. Asclepiodora decimbens (Nutt.) 
A. Gray. Decumbent Milkweed. 
Fig. 3408. 
Ananthrix decumbens Nutt. Trans, Am, Phil. 
Soc. (IL.) 5: 202. 1833-37. 
Asclepiodora decumbens A. Gray, Proc. Am. 
Acad, 12: 66. 1876, 
Stems decumbent or ascending, rough- 
puberulent, 10’-2° long. Leaves firm, linear 
to lanceolate, glabrous above, puberulent on 
the veins beneath, acuminate at the apex, 
narrowed at the base, 3’-7’ long, 2’-8” 
wide; umbel solitary, many-flowered; pe- 
duncle 1’-5’ long; pedicels stout, 3’-1’ long; 
corolla depressed-globose in the bud, green- 
ish, its segments, when expanded, ovate or 
broadly oval, longer than the hoods; hoods 
purple, obtusely 3-lobed on the ventral 
margins, about 3” long, their tips incurved; 
anther-wings broad, angled above; follicles 
nearly erect on the recurved fruited pedi- 
cels, 3’-4’ long, puberulent, at least when 
young, with or without soft projections. 
In dry soil, Kansas to Texas and Mexico, 
west to Utah and Arizona, April<June. 
