Flora Medica

ASCLEPIADACE^.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 302.ASCLEPIAS.Calyx 5-cleft, very small. Corolla rotate, with a short tubeand a 5-parted flat or reflexed limb. Coronet of appendages5-leaved ; leaves cucullate, fleshy, erect, with a horn proceedingfrom within each. Pollen-masses attached by a taper point.Stigma depressed, not pointed.1141. A. tuberosa Linn. sp. pi. 316. Bigelmo med. bot. ii. t. 26.Bot. Reg.t. 76. Dry sandy soils, pine woods &c. in the UnitedStates. (Butterfly weed, Pleurisy root.)Root large, fleshy, branching, and often somewhat fusiform. Stemsnumerous, growing in bunches from the root, erect, ascending or procumbent,round, hairy, green or red. Leaves alternate, the lower pedunculated,the upper sessile, narrow, oblong, hairy, obtuse at base,waved on the edge, and in the old plants sometimes revolute. Umbelsat the ends of terminal branches. Involucre composed of numerous,short, subulate, bracts. Flowers numerous, erect, of a beautifullybright orange colour. Calyx much smaller than the corolla, 5-parted ;the segments subulate, reflexed and concealed by the corolla. Corollarotate, 5-parted, the segments oblong and reflexed. Coronet of 5 erect,cucullate leaves or cups, with an oblique mouth, having a small, incurved,acute horn proceeding from the base of the cavity of each, andmeeting at the centre of the flower. The mass of stamens is a tough,horny, somewhat pyramidal substance, separable into 5 anthers ;each 2-celled, bordered by membranous, reflected edges contiguous tothose of the next, and terminated by a membranous, reflected summit.Pollen masses 10, distinct, yellowish, transparent, flat and spathulate,ending in curved stalks, which unite them by pairs to a minute darktubercle at top; each pair is suspended in the cells of 2 adjoininganthers, so that if a needle be inserted between the membranous edgesof 2 anthers and forced out at top, it carries with it a pair of thepollen masses. Carpels 2, completely concealed beneath the stigmaand anthers, ovate, with erect styles, terminated by a flat pentagonaldisk-like stigma. Follicle lanceolate, green, with a reddish tinge anddowny. Seeds ovate, flat, margined, terminated by long silken hairs.Root expectorant and diaphoretic ; employed successfully in catarrh,pneumony and pleurisy. Bigelow says he is persuaded of its usefulnessas a mild tonic and stimulant.1 142. A. decumbens Linn, is probably a mere variety of thelast, and has similar properties.1143. A. curassavica Linn, sp.pl. 314. HBK. n. g. et. sp.(Dill. elth. t.30.iii. 149. Swartz obs. 126. Bot. Reg.t. 81.539