MILKWEED FAMILY 
ASCLEPIADACEAE 
WHORLED MILKWEED 
Asclepias verticillata L. 
The milky juice of this plant is said to be used in some 
southern states as a remedy for snake bites and for the bites 
and stings of insects. 
This dainty Milkweed is char- 
acterized by the very narrow leaves 
which are arranged in whorls of 3-7 
along the slender, minutely hairy 
stem. It grows 1-3 feet high in the 
dry soil of prairies, fields, hills and 
open woods nearly everywhere east 
of the Rockies from Canada into 
Mexico. 
The many small, greenish white 
flowers are produced in numerous 
clusters from July to September. 
The white hoods are about as long 
as the anthers and about half as 
long as the incurved claw-shaped 
horns. The pod is smooth. 
The Poke Milkweed, Asclepias 
phytolaccoides Pursh, is another of the 
less common species and grows in 
moist thickets and woods. It is not 
likely to be confused with other com- 
mon Milkweeds because the flowers are 
a beautiful creamy white and hang 
downward. The stem is usually smooth 
or nearly so and grows 3-6 feet high. 
The leaves are broadly egg shaped and 
pointed at both ends, 4-9 inches long, 2-4 inches broad and on short 
petioles. The greenish corolla is often stained with purple and the 
hoods, little shorter than the anthers, are white or slightly pinkish 
and 2-toothed at the top. The white horns have long projecting 
awl-shaped tips that curve inward. The downy follicles are 4-6 
inches long. This Milkweed is found from New England to Georgia, 
west to Minnesota and Arkansas, and it flowers from June to August. 
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