THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
83 
with a milky juice called milkweeds but the plant used for 
the table is the one that bears the fat pods of brown- 
coated, silky-plumed seeds in late autumn and is to be 
found along most dusty waysides. Its scientific name is 
Asclepias Cornuti. It is a bulky plant and the tops 
remain tender until the plant is a foot or more high. 
Associated with the milkweed and not unlike it in general 
appearance is the poke {Phytolacca decandra). Certain 
venturesome individuals annually gather it for food but 
the majority avoid it because of its dangerous character. 
The root is known to be deadly poisonous, but the tops 
appear to be harmless. The plant is even more lusty and 
succulent than the milkweed and in many places can be 
gathered by the bushel. 
Although the i)igweed {Chenopodium album){s edible,, 
this fact does not appear to detract from its weedy quali- 
ties nor does it serve to greatly reduce its numbers. Pos- 
sibly the name, pigweed, is enough to preserve it from 
being eaten by man. When gathered for food it is usually 
called red-root or lamb's-quarters. Pigweed is a near 
relative of our best-known pot-herb, the spinach, and both 
belong to the Chenopodiaceae of which the beet is also a 
member. 
Such unpromising things as the nettle and purslane 
are also said to be good for the table. Certainly both are 
common enough in some places to become the mainstay 
of the community. The purslane {Portulaca oleracea) is 
a near relative of the spring beauty whose tubers the 
Indians are said to eat. 
The asparagus vies With the spinach for first place at 
the table, and while it is well known to be a harmless and 
palatable plant it comes of a family that is not above 
suspicion. To this family, the Liliaceee, belongs the 
poisonous white hellebore, lily-of-the- valley, squills and 
many others. Curiously enough, one of the plants of this 
family that closely resembles the asparagus when young, 
the Solomon's-seal {Polygonatum) is occasionally used 
exactly like its better known relative. It is picked just 
