ASCLEPIADACEAE— MILKWEED 



697 



borne in dense umbels or rarely solitary follicles, erect or spreading on the 

 recurved pedicels. 



Distribution. This weed is found in moist soil from Minnesota and north- 

 ern Iowa to Kansas, in the Rocky Mountain region, common in Colorado, Wy- 

 oming and Utah. Troublesome not only in our meadows but occasionally also 

 in our grain fields and gardens. 



Fig. 400. Showy Milkweed (Asclepias specie 

 osa). A well known troublesome weed with 

 milky juice. This plant and other species are 

 known to be poisonous; it is common from 

 Western Missouri and Iowa westward. (Ada 

 Hay den.) 



Asclepias syriaca L. Milkweed 



A perennial herb with a stout stalk from 2-5 feet high, finely soft, pubescent 

 leaves oval-oblong, or ovate, obtuse or roundish at the base, the young leaf 

 somewhat pubescent above, soon becoming glabrate ; petioles stout ; flowers 

 borne in umbels, from a few to many, peduncles pubescent or tomentose ; 

 corolla dull purple or whitish in color ; follicle borne on erect or recurved 

 pedicels. 



Distribution. This species is widely distributed in the north, occurring in 

 waste places from New Brunswick to the Saskatchewan, along the Atlantic 

 coast to North Carolina and south and west to Missouri and Kansas. 



Poisonous properties. Said to be poisonous to live stock. It contains 

 asclepion. Bees often become entangled in the pollen manes of this and pre- 

 ceding species and are unable to extricate themselves. Lehmann and other 

 European writers list this species as poisonous. 



