MILKWEED FAMILY 



ASCLEPIADACEAE 



WHORLED MILKWEED 



Asclepias 'verticillata L. 



The milky juice of this plant is said to be used in some 

 southern states as a remedy for snake bites and for the bites 

 and stings of insects. 



This dainty Milkweed is char- 

 acterized by the very narrow leaves 

 which are arranged in whorls of 3-7 

 along the slender, minutely hairy 

 stem. It grows 1-3 feet high in the 

 dry soil of prairies, fields, hills and 

 open woods nearly everywhere east 

 of the Rockies from Canada into 

 Mexico. 



The many small, greenish white 

 flowers are produced in numerous 

 clusters from July to September. 

 The white hoods are about as long 

 as the anthers and about half as 

 long as the incurved claw-shaped 

 horns. The pod is smooth. 



The Poke Milkweed, Asclepias 

 phytolaccoides Pursh, is another ot the 

 less common species and grows in 

 moist thickets and woods. It is not 

 likely to be confused with other com- 

 mon Milkweeds because the flowers are 

 a beautiful creamy white and hang 

 downward. The stem is usually smooth 

 or nearly so and grows ^-^ ^^^t high. 

 The leaves are broadly egg shaped and 

 pointed at both ends, 4-9 inches long, 2-4 inches broad and on short 

 petioles. The greenish corolla is often stained with purple and the 

 hoods, little shorter than the anthers, are white or slightly pinkish 

 and 2-toothed at the top. The white horns have long projecting 

 awl-shaped tips that curve inward. The downy follicles are 4-6 

 inches long. This Milkweed is found from New England to Georgia, 

 west to Minnesota and Arkansas, and it flowers from June to August. 



246 



