MILKWEED FAMILY. Asclepiadacese. 



MILKWEED FAMILY. Asdepiadacece. 



Milky- juiced plants with large leaves, and flowers 

 deeply five-parted, the sepallike corolla segments turned 

 absolutely back at the time of bloom ; the so-called co- 

 rona within with its five concave parts thus fully ex- 

 posed ; the anthers and stigma remarkably connected, 

 and the pollen cohering in waxlike, granular, pear- 

 shaped masses not unlike those of the Orchids. The 

 masses quite frequently become attached to the feet of 

 bees, and the entanglement causes their death. The 

 flowers are almost exclusively fertilized by bees and the 

 beelike flies (see Miiller's Fertilization of Flowers). 



The handsomest member of the genus, 



with brilliant light orange or orange-yel- 

 Weed or Pleu= 

 risy Root l w flowers, in erect flat-topped clusters 



Asclepias Sit the termination of the branches. Leaves 



tuberosa light olive green, narrow oblong, or lance- 



ig ange shaped, hairy beneath, and veiny, nearly 

 September or <l u ite stemless. The juice is very 

 slightly if at all milky. The stem some- 

 what rough. The slender pods are borne erect on a short 

 stalk with an S curve. 1-2 feet high. Common in dry 

 fields everywhere, especially south. Found on Cape Cod. 



A misnamed species, as its flowers are 

 Purple 

 Milkweed pure crimson or else crimson- magenta; but 



Asclepias they are never purple. The stem is usu- 



purpurascens ally simple, green, and magenta- tinged at 

 Magenta= ^g j ea junctures. Leaves ovate, and 



Ju'ire-Au ust fi ne ly hairy beneath ; smooth above. The 

 flowers are inch long, with broad horns 

 abruptly pointed inward. 2-3 feet high. Common in 

 dry fields and thickets. Me. , south to Ga. , west to Minn. 

 A similar, rather smooth species, the 

 Swamp stem with two downy lines above and on 



Ascle ias ^ ne branches of the flower-stalks. The 



incarnata leaves narrow, or lance-shaped ; all short- 



Dull light stalked. The small flowers in small termi- 

 crimson nal fl a t-topped clusters, dull light crimson 



Se tember or ^ u ^ cr i mson -pi n ^- 2-4 feet high. Com- 

 mon in swamps throughout our range. 



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