ASCLEPIADACEAE 



MILKWEED FAMILY 



FLORIDA MILKWEED 



Acetates fioridana (Lam.) Hitchc. 



Milkweeds of the genus Acerates are much like those of 

 Asclepias except that the hoods are without horns, which is 

 what the genus name, from the Greek, means. 



The Florida Milk- 

 weed occurs on prair- 

 ies and Pine barrens 

 from Ohio to Ontario 

 and Minnesota, south 

 to Florida and Texas. 

 In Illinois it is found 

 on rather poor sandy 

 soil throughout prai- 

 rie portions. 



The rather slender 

 stem grows 1-3 feet 

 high and is rough 

 with short hairs. The 

 exceedingly numer- 

 ous leaves are long 

 and narrow, mostly 

 alternate and com- 

 monly with some 

 hairs along the mar- 

 gins and on midribs. 



The greenish white 

 flowers are produced from June to September. Hoods and corolla 

 are colored alike. The 2 ovaries and short styles are distinct but 

 the stigmas are united to form a 5-lobed structure. The fruits 

 are follicles containing large numbers of seeds, each with a coma. 



The Green Milkweed, Acerates viridiflora Ell., is also found in 

 dry sandy or rocky soil in Illinois. It may be distinguished from the 

 Florida Nlilkweed by the broader leaves, which are otten opposite, 

 and by the fact that the greenish flower clusters are sessile or nearly 

 so in the axils of the leaves. 



The Woolly Milkweed, Acerates lanuginosa (Nutt.) Dene., is a 

 hairy perennial 6-18 inches high, which may be found on prairies 

 from northern Illinois to Minnesota and Wyoming, but is rare in this 

 state. The solitary umbel is terminal, densely many flowered and 

 peduncled. The flowers, on slender pedicels, bloom from June to 

 August. 



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