236 PINK TO MAGENTA 



COMMON MILKWEED: Silkweed. 



Asclepias syriaca. 

 Milkweed Family. June — Aug. 



A plant 3-5 feet high, found in fields, road- 

 sides, waste places. Common. New Bruns- 

 wick south to North Carolina and Kansas ; also 

 westward. 

 Flowers — Variable in color, dull crimson-pink, 

 lilac or yellowish; one or more thick 

 clusters springing from the leaf an- 

 gles. Seed pods large, filled with silky 

 down and flat, overlapping seeds. 

 Leaves — Opposite, broad oblong, toothless. 



PURPLE MILKWEED : A. purpurdscens. 



Similar in habit to the preceding. Found in 

 woods, dry fields. New Hampshire to On- 

 tario, Minnesota, Kansas, and southward. 

 Flowers — Crimson or crimson-magenta, in termi- 

 nal clusters. 

 Leaves — Elliptical or egg-shaped, upper ones 

 taper-pointed, minutely downy be- 

 neath. 



NOTES. 



