2^. i
I’
A S C L È P IA 8 decumbens.
Decumbent Swallow-wort.
Linnean Class and Order-. P E N T A N D R IA D IG Y N T A .
Natural Order. A SC L E P IA D EÆ . Brown in Wet-n. trans. ed in b .1.
p. 13.
Tribus I . ASCLEPIEÆ)^ PoUiiiis massæ ( 10-20) cereaceæ læves, ncc
in granulis separandæ.
A S C L E P IA S . Supra fol. 18. series 2.
A . decumheus, caule subdecumbente apico divaricato-ramoso birsutissimo,
foliis sparsis oblongis obtusis mucronatis supra nitidis subtus hirsuto-
villosis reticulato-venosis ; superioribus oppositis, umbellis multifloris
lateralibus terminalibusque.
Asclepias decumbens. Mill. diet. n. 10. Willd. spec. 1. p . 1218. P c is.
syn. 1. p . 27(>. Schult. syst. veg. (i. p . 84.
Asclepias tuberosa 0. decumbens. Pursh f l . amer. sept. l . p . 184.
Asclepias caule decumbente birsuto, foliis ovatis obtusis villosis subsessili-
bus. Gronov. virg. 27.
Roots tuberous, fleshy. Stems several from the same root,
somewhat procumbent or ascending, the upper part branching,
densely clothed with short villous hairs : branches spreading,
somewhat flexuose, villosely hairy. Leaves nearly sessile,
rigid, oblong, obtuse, terminated in a short rigid mucrone,
almost cordate at the base, the margin slightly bent back ;
glossy, but slightly hairy on the upper side ; underneath
thickly clothed with short villous hairs, feather-nerved, and
reticulately veined ; these on the main stem alternate or scattered,
but those on the flowering branches generally opposite.
Petioles very short, or scarcely any, villous. Umbels
lateral and terminal, many-flowered. Peduncles short, vil-
losely hairy. Flowers orange-coloured, very handsome, in-
volucre of numerous small bractes, that are lanceolate, acute,
villous, and fringed. Pedicles hairy, thickened a little close
to the flower, of a pale yellow, tinged with flesh colour.
Calyx deeply 5-cleft, persistent ; the segments broadly lanceolate,
acute, hairy. Corolla deeply 5-parted ; the segrnents
oblongly liguiate, bluntish, reflexed, the points ascending a
little, smooth on both sides, the inside of much the deepest
WeclSrÜrlJc.