88 
ANNALS OF THE 
The plant to which I refer is the Asclepias incarnata, one of the natural order 
of Asclepiadaceae, or milkweed family. The common milkweed Asclepias Cornuti, 
found in abundance in our fields, is well known from its siugular looking flowers, 
the quantity of milky juice that exudes from it when broken, and from the pods 
which, in the autumn, are filled with a silky-cottony looking substance enveloping 
the seeds. The young shoots of this species are also frequently eaten in the coun- 
try as a substitute for asparagus, and it is sometimes called wild asparagus. The 
Asclepias incarnata has a more showy flower than the Asclepias Cornuti ; the divi- 
sions of the corolla being of a purplish color, and the hoods of the crown of a flesh 
color (hence the specific name incarnata), and it has scarcely any of the milky juice 
found in the other species. It is a perennial herbaceous plant, growing naturally in 
rich moist ground, and on low rich banks of streams ; sometimes it is found growing 
in swamps, but it does not appear to thrive when growing in water. In the autumn 
of 1859, I found it growing in several places in the waters of Burlington Bay, near 
the shore ; but, in the following year, on visiting two of the localities where I had 
observed it growing in water, not a plant was to be seen. The water in the Bay was 
unusually high in 1859 and 1860, and had evidently covered the low banks on which 
it had originally grown ; and although the plants survived for a time their immei'- 
sions in the water, they appear ultimately to have been killed by it. That it may 
be successfully grown on dry ground has been proved by Mr. John Freed, a gardener 
in Hamilton, who has had a plant growing in his garden for some years in a dry 
sandy loam. The cultivated plant appeared to me to possess a stronger and brighter 
fibre than the plant in its native state ; but my opportunities of observing it have 
not been sufficient to enable me to say positively that such is the case. 
In the spring of 1860 some of the stalks and fibre of the Asclepias incarnata, 
furnished by Mr. Freed, were exhibited at a meeting of the Hamilton Association, 
and a portion of it was taken by a member of the Association and handed to Mr. 
McMicking, a paper manufacturer in Dundas, for examination. A letter from him 
was, at a subsequent meeting, read to the Association, of which the following is a 
copy :— 
" Dear Sie, — I have tested, in some measure, the sample of Asclepias incarnata 
you gave me, which results as follows : 
" 1. The sample was bleached in 3 minutes. 
" 2. Is of a beautiful high color. 
" 3. A brilliant lustre. 
" 4. Strong flexible silky fibre. 
"5. Parts ofshive (wood bark, &c.) 737. 
" " lint (dressed fibre) 263—1000. 
" 6. Is worth dressed 5 cents per pound. 
