228 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



697. Butterfly-weed. Asclepias tuherosa. A stout, stiff- 

 hairy plant, usually branched near the top, 1-2 ft. high. 

 Leaves numerous, mostly alternate, of an oblong type, stalk- 

 less, 2-5 in. long, more or less wavy-margined. Flowers 

 brilliant orange, in a dense showy cluster that is often 3 

 in. wide. Pod erect, 4-5 in. long. In dry places, Maine and 

 Ontario to Florida, and westward. Summer. Fig. 697. 



698. Purple Milkweed. Asclepias purpiirascens. Usually 

 unbranched, and 2-4 ft. high. Leaves opposite, 3-8 in. long, 

 clearly but shortly stalked, oblong and tapering to a point. 

 Flowers in dense showy clusters, deep purple. Pod erect, 4-5 

 in. long, downy. In dry places. Ontario and New Hampshire 

 to No. Carolina, and westward. July. A related species, A. 

 rubra, has red flowers, and is found in moist places only from 

 New Jersey to Florida, and westward to Missouri and Texas ; 

 not in the northeast. 



699. Swamp Milkweed^. Asclepias incarnata. Smooth, or 

 nearly so, and not unlike No. 698, but the leaves narrower, 

 and the flowers reddish-purple and smaller. Pods erect, almost 

 smooth, 2-3 in. high. In wet places, usually very common. 

 New Brunswick and Ontario to Tenn., and westward. August. 

 Fig. 699. A closely related plant, A. pulchra, also of moist 

 places, is densely hairy throughout. It grows from Nova 

 Scotia to Minnesota and southward along the coast to Georgia. 



700. Milkweed. Asclepias amplexicaulis. A smooth milk- 

 weed of dry sandy places, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves of an oval- 



