WILD FLOWERS OF NEW YORK 223 



Butterfly Weed; Pleurisy Root 

 Asclepias tuberosa Linnaeus 



Plate 171 



Stems very hairy, rather stout, usually branched above, erect or 

 ascending, 1 to 2 feet high from a stout, perennial root, with slightly milky 

 sap. Leaves alternate, oblong to lanceolate, pointed or blunt at the apex, 

 narrowed, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, sessile or very short petioled, 

 2 to 6 inches long, one-fourth to 1 inch wide. Flowers bright orange or 

 yellow, numerous in terminal, cymose umbels; lobes or segments of the 

 corolla about one-fourth of an inch long, reflexed in flower; the segments 

 of the five-parted crown (corona) about one-third of an inch long; hoods 

 erect, oblong, bright orange or yellow and two to three times as long as 

 the stamens and longer than the filiform horns. Fruit a finely pubescent 

 pod (follicle) , 4 to 5 inches long. 



In dry fields and roadsides, Maine to Ontario and Minnesota, south 

 to Florida and northern Mexico. Flowering from July to September. 



Swamp Milkweed 

 Asclepias incarnata Linnaeus 



Plate 172 



Stems slender, often 2 to 5 feet tall and leafy throughout, more or less 

 branched, smooth or minutely pubescent in two lines along the upper part 

 of the stem. Leaves opposite, oblong-lanceolate, pointed at the apex, 

 narrowed or sometimes slightly heart-shaped at the base, 3 to 7 inches 

 long, one-half to i| inches wide; petioles very short. Flowers numerous in 

 many-flowered terminal, stalked umbels; pedicels of the flowers pubescent, 

 one-half to 1 inch long; corolla red or rose-purple, its lobes oblong; column 

 more than one-half as long as the obtuse pink or purplish hoods; horns 

 slender, incurved, longer than the hoods. Fruit an erect pod (follicle), 

 2 to 4 inches long. 



