PINK AND ROSE-COLORED FLOWERS 
Four-leaved Milkweed {Asclepias quadrifolid). MilkT\'eed 
family. May to July. 
A rather low milkweed, not over two feet high, with flowers 
in several small umbels. The flower is that of the milkweeds 
(see A. syriaca), about the size of the Swamp Milkweed flower, 
that is, very small. The lower stem is quite free from leaves. 
Poke Milkweed {Asclepias phytolaccoides) . Milkweed 
family. June to August. 
A tall milkweed, sometimes six feet high, bearing at the top 
and in the upper axils drooping umbels of pink or ivory-white 
flowers, each on a long, slender stalk, with less flowers to the 
umbel than is usual in the milkweeds. The flowers are those 
common to the family (see A. syriaca). The leaves average 
six inches long, are thin and prone to droop, somewhat oblong, 
pointed, without teeth, with stalks under an inch long. The 
stem is smooth, generally unbranched. Found in woods. Not 
common in eastern New England. The specimen drawn (ivory- 
white) grew on a bank by the roadside in western Connecticut, 
at the edge of woods. 
Millspaugh says that the young sprouts of the milkweed 
have been used as a substitute for asparagus, the juice has been 
applied to wounds, the seeds have been usea for pillows, the 
stalks for making paper, and the root for medicine, though it is 
not officinal. 
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