WILD FLOWERS pink 



Children delight to make pretty little plumes, puff- 

 balls or pompons by winding the seed end of ever 

 so many tufts together with thread, and allowing the 

 free ends to spread. 



POKE, OR TALL MILKWEED 



Asclepias phytolaccdides. Milkweed Family. 



This really beautiful plant is one of the most deli- 

 cately arrayed of its kind. It is not easily confused 

 with any of the other Milkweeds that are likely to be 

 found in common with it, because its lovely flowers 

 are creamy or ivory white, and they generally hang 

 deliberately downward. The usually smooth, simple, 

 leaf stalk is very milky, and grows from three to six 

 feet high. The large, very thin textured leaves are 

 broadly egg-shaped, and are pointed at both ends. 

 They have entire margins and are set on slender stems. 

 The surface is smooth or slightly downy underneath, 

 and the midrib shows prominently. They are arranged 

 in alternate pairs on the stalk and become narrower 

 as they approach the summit. The numerous large 

 flowers form one or more clusters or umbels that hang 

 like fringe, nodding loosely on long, slender stems 

 which droop prettily from a stout support set in the 

 angles of the upper leaves. The corolla lobes are 

 greenish, and the short, broad, white hoods have twin 

 points. The long, white horns have sharp tips that 

 project and curve toward the centre. The green 

 corolla lobes are often stained with purple, and the 

 white crown becomes pinkish. This Milkweed blooms 



81 



