MILKWEED FAMILY 



(Asclepiadacece) 



Herbs, vines or shrubs with usually a milky juice. Flowers 

 5-parted, the divisions reflexed in our genera; anthers united to 

 the stigma in the form of a crown, with 5 hood-like appendages 

 making a circle about it. Fruit a pod, the numerous seeds 

 each bearing a tuft of silky hairs at the tip. 



WOOLLY MILKWEED (Asclepias eriocarpa, Benth.). Flow- 

 ers creamy white, the stamen-hoods each provided with an 

 acute horn. Leaves short-petioled, 4 to 8 inches long; the 

 whole plant, which is 2 to 4 feet high, densely clothed with a 

 loose wool, even to the calyx. By roadsides and on hills, 

 Central and Southern California. 



The Woolly Milkweed is perhaps the commonest of several 

 Pacific Coast species. The Indians obtained from the tough 

 inner bark a strong fibre of which they manufactured carry- 

 ing nets and rope; and the sweet, milky juice was used as a 

 lotion for cuts and sores, and also as chewing gum. 



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