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A S C L È P IA S amoeoa.
Oval-leaved Swallow-wort.
Linnean Class and Order. P E N T A N D R IA D IG Y N IA .
Natural Order. A S C L E P IA D EÆ . Brown in Wern. trans. edm b .l.
^ ^Tribus I . A S C L E P IE Æ . Pollinis massæ (10-20) cereaceæ læves,
nec in granulis separandæ.
A S C L E P IA S . Supra folio 18, series the second.
A . amcena, caule simplici bifariam puberulo, foliis brevi petiolatis ob lon p-
ovalibus acutis subtus pubescentibus, umbellis terminalibus appendici-
busque triplo genitalibus longioribus erectis.
Asclepias amoena. Mich. f o r . amer. 1. p . 118. Pursh flor. ame,-, s e p t.l.
p. 181. Nuttall gen. amer. 1. p . 166. Willden. spec, plant. 1. P - ^ f -
Pers. synops. 1. p . 276. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 2. p . 80. Ra¡m. et Schult.
syst. 6. p . 73. Spreng. syst. 1. p . 343.
Apocynum floribus amoene purpuréis, corniculis surrectis. D ill. elth. 31.
t. 27. / . 30.
Perennial, herbaceous. Stems erect, from 3 to 6 feet in
height, smooth and glossy, but bearing two thin rows of
hairs down the stem, alternate with the leaves. Leaves opposite,
on short footstalks, oblongly oval, entire, acuffi, tapering,
but a little rounded towards the base, smooth a,nd
somewhat glossy on the upper side; underneath paler, being
there clothed with a short soft down; midrib purple, feather-
nerved, the nerves horizontal and pubescent, reticulately
veined.’ Petioles short, smooth, or a ittle pubescent at the
margins, purple. Flowers in a large terminal umbel, bright
purple, and very handsome. Pedunele purple, also bearing
the two rows of pubescence. Umbel or head many-flowered,
orowing in a handsome compact form. Pedieles cylindrical,
more or less tinged with purple, pubescent. Calyx deeply
5-parted, persistent: the segments lanceolate, acute, pubescent.
Corolla rotate, deeply 5-parted; the segments broadly
lanceolate, somewhat concave, acute, smooth on both sides,
and of a uniform purple. Stamineous crown of 5 upright leai-
lets hollow on the inside, each producing a subulate horn
abo’ut the middle, which points inwards. Stamens 5, alternate
with the segments of the corolla, winged on each side
with a membranaceous wing attached at the base to the sta-
Y 2
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