ASCLEPIADACEJE. (MILKWEED FAMILY.) 367 
sessile base , erect; hoods of the crown obovate , entire , obtusely 2-eared 
at the base on the nhtside, with a slender but obtuse claw-like horn; 
pods ovate-lanceolate , with small and scattered warty spines chiefly on 
the beak. — Near Columbus, Ohio, Sullivant. (Also Missouri, Engel- 
mann .) July. —- Resembles No. 1 in appearance, petals, &c.; the 
hoods larger, and exceeding the anthers by one half. 
* * Pods not warty-roughened or prickly. 
■+- Leaves all opposite , or the middle ones sometimes in fours. 
++• Stems simple or nearly so. 
3. A. pliytolaccoides, Pursh. (Poke-Milkweed.) Stem 
tall, smooth; leaves broadly ovate , or the upper oval-lanceolate and 
pointed at both ends , short-petioled , smooth or slightly downy under¬ 
neath; pedicels loose and nodding , numerous , elongated and slender, 
nearly as long as the peduncle, many times longer than the ovate-ob¬ 
long divisions of the (greenish) corolla; hoods of the crown (white) 
truncate, the margins 2-toothed at the summit, the horn with a long 
projecting awl-shaped point; pods minutely downy. — Moist copses, 
not rare. June. — Stem 3°-5° high, above marked with 2 opposite 
lines of minute pubescence, as in most of the following : peduncles 
F - 3' long. Leaves 5'- 8 f long. 
4. A. purpurascens, L. (Purple Milkweed.) Stem 
rather slender (2° - 3° high) ; leaves elliptical or ovate-oblong , the low¬ 
er mucronate, the upper taper-pointed, minutely velvety-downy under¬ 
neath , smooth above, contracted at the base into a short petiole; pedicels 
shorter than the mostly terminal peduncle, about twice the length of the 
dark purple lanceolate-ovate divisions of the corolla; hoods of the 
crown oblong, abruptly narrowed above ; the horn broadly scythe-shap¬ 
ed , with a narrow and abruptly inflexed horizontal point; pods smooth. 
(A. amcena, L., Michx.) — Border of copses, N. England to Michigan, 
not common eastward. July. — Flowers as large as in No. X; pedun¬ 
cle and pedicels downy along one side. 
5. A. variegata, L. (Variegated Milkweed.) Nearly 
smooth (l°-29 high) ; leaves ovate , oval, or obovate , somewhat wavy, 
mucronate, contracted into short petioles ; pedicels (numerous and 
crowded) and peduncle short , downy; divisions of the corolla ovate 
(white) ; hoods of the crown orbicular, entire, the horn semilunar 
with a horizontal point; pods slightly downy. (A. nivea, X., in part. 
A. hybrida, Michx.) — Dry woods, S. New York to Penn., Ohio, and 
southward. July. —Remarkable for its very compact umbels of near¬ 
ly white flowers, often purple in the centre. Leaves 4-5 pairs, the 
middle ones sometimes whorled ; veins often purple. Peduncles 1- 
3, usually long. 
6. A. quadrifdlia, Jacq. (Four-leaved Milkweed.) Near¬ 
ly smooth (10'-18' high), slender; leaves ovate or sometimes ovate- 
lanceolate, petioled , usually taper-pointed , the middle ones in whorls of 
