WILD FLOWERS OF NEW YORK 221 



fourths to 2\ inches wide; petioles short and usually less than one-third 



of an inch long. Flowers fragrant, pink or pink and white, numerous in 



loose, terminal clusters (cymes) ; each flower about one-fourth of an inch 



broad; calyx with five short, pointed lobes; corolla narrowly bell-shaped 



with five reflexed lobes; stamens five, attached to the base of the corolla 



within and alternate with its lobes. Fruit a slender pod (follicle) about 



4 inches long and one-eighth of an inch thick. 



In fields and thickets, New Brunswick to British Columbia, south to 



Georgia and Arizona. Flowering in June and July. 



About five closely related species, all with smaller flowers, are recog- 

 nized by botanists as native to this State. 



Milkweed Family 



Asclepiadaceae 

 The Milkweeds are familiar and well-known plants, but in order to 

 distinguish some of the closely related species, a special study of the flower 

 structure is necessary. They are perennial herbs with milky juice and 

 flowers in umbellate clusters. The calyx is small and inferior (below the 

 ovary), five-lobed; its tube short or none. The corolla varies in shape 

 from bell-shaped to urn-shaped, funnelform or saucer-shaped, five-lobed; 

 the lobes or segments commonly reflexed when the flower is fully open. 

 The flowers of the Milkweeds are further characterized by possessing a 

 third floral envelope, consisting of a five-lobed or five-parted crown (corona) 

 between the corolla and the stamens and attached to one or the other. 

 Stamens five, fastened to the corolla, usually near its base, sometimes 

 the filaments of the stamens being attached to one another. The ovary 

 consists of two carpels, with two short styles connected at the summit 

 by a shield-shaped stigma. The fruit consists of two large, fleshy pods 

 (follicles) developing from each flower, but usually only one or a very 

 few flowers of an umbel develop fruit. Seeds flattened and appendaged 

 by a long coma of wdiite or whitish hairs. 



