MILKWEED FAMILY 189 



1. A. speciosa Torr. Showy Milkweed. Stem stout, l l / 2 

 to 5 ft. high, stiffly erect, woolly-pubescent except when old. 

 Leaves oval to ovate or oblong, 3 to 8 in. long, petioled. 

 Petals pink or reddish purple. Hoods with conspicuous horns 

 {% in. long) much exceeding the central disk. Pod woolly, 

 soft-spiny toward the apex. 



The stems of this milkweed, which is plentiful in the 

 Yosemite and other of our valleys, yield a strong, white 

 fiber, much used by the Indians, who call it Hook-ken. The 

 Hupas prize also the milky juice, which they boil down and 

 use as a chewing-gum. The herbage is very poisonous to 

 animals. It does not cause so much trouble to stockmen, 

 however, as A. eriocarpa Benth., a species of lower altitudes 

 which may be known by its more oblong leaves and white 

 flowers. 



2. A. cordifolia Jepson. Purple Milkweed. Stems \y 2 to 

 3 ft. high, the whole plant entirely glabrous and more or less 

 purplish. Leaves ovate, acute, 2]/ 2 to 6 in. long, l T / 2 to 4 in. 

 wide, sessile by a heart-shaped base. Petals dark reddish pur- 

 ple. Hoods purplish, without horns. Pod glabrous, smooth, 

 long-pointed. (Gomphocarpus cordifolius Benth.) 



The smooth and clean-looking foliage of this plant is a com- 

 mon sight on the gravelly and rocky slopes around Yosemite 

 Valley. It doubtless grows throughout the lower part of the 

 Yellow Pine Belt. Although we have no direct evidence, it is 

 probable that this species is poisonous to live-stock in the 

 same manner as the next. 



3. A. mexicana Cav. Narrow-leaf Milkweed. Stems usu- 

 ally 2 or 3 ft. high, the plant entirely glabrous and green. 

 Leaves 3 or more in a whorl, narrowly lanceolate, acute, 2 T / 2 

 to 6 in. long, *4 to H m - wide, narrow at base. Flowers 



Asclepias mexicana 



