Milkweed Family. — Asclepiadaceæ
Four-leaved Milkweed. Asclepias quadrifolia.
Found during June and July, in shady places, on dry uplands.
The stalk is leafy and slender, round, and tough fibred, and 1 or 2 feet high; it is downy with soft hairs; in color light green, with an indication of pink at the joints.
The oval leaf has a broad base and a sharp-tapering point; the margin is entire or slightly scalloped and wavy or ruffled, the ribs are prominent and hairy underneath, the texture is thin, and the surface is downy above; light green, with a whitey bloom,—pale underneath. The leaves, on slender short stems, are arranged in pairs, or in whorls of 4 of which 2 are smaller than the others; they occur at a considerable distance apart.
The flower is small and delicate in form and texture; its crown, of 5 tubes and 5 little horns, is tinted pale lilac, the 5 lobes are small, down-bent, and creamy pink; the calyx is light green; the foot-stem is long, and pale lilac color. The flowers are gathered in small globe-shaped clusters, set upon terminal pink stems.
Only a few flower-clusters occur on the plant, and the 4-leaved whorls are found midway the height of the stalk. The details of the whole plant are delicately perfected, and the quality of its leafage is pleasing.
Sand Milkweed. Asclepias obtusifolia.
Found on sandy barrens and fields in July.
The stalk, which grows from 2 to 3 feet in height, is very leafy in its middle part, and is round, or sometimes a little flattened beneath the leaves; its fibre is strong, and surface smooth. Color, pale green, frequently toned with bronze, or brown.
The leaf is long, square-pointed with a sharp little tip, and heart-shaped at its partly clasping base; its margin is entire, the blade being much ruffled by the tautness of the strong midrib, and its edge is slightly thickened; the texture is thick and tough, and the surface is smooth and soft to the touch; the color is a strong full green, showing purplish at the edge and ribs, and pale silvery underneath where the mid-rib is white. The leaves occur in pairs which grow at right angles to each other.
The crown tubes are short, broad, and slightly toothed, with noticeable sharp little horns; the lobes are long, pointed, and curving. All these parts are pale greenish-purple, while the small calyx is green. The foot-stems are rather long and slender, and the flower-cluster is large, loose, and terminal.
At about a third of the height of the stalk the leaves begin to crowd together,—sometimes as many as five or six pairs will occur with barely an inch of space between them; they overlap their bases about the stalk, and describe fine curves with their wavy blades. Occasionally a second cluster of flowers is borne at the base of the stem which supports the usual cluster. The juice is very little milky.
Swamp Milkweed. Asclepias incarnata, var. pulchra.
Found in damp hollows and swamps, in July.
The leafy stalk is commonly 2 or 3 feet high, woody-fibred and hollow, with slight ridges on its surface, and downy to the touch. Green in color, modified by pale crimson.
The large leaf (7 inches long sometimes) is sharp-pointed at the tip and slightly heart-shaped at the base; the ribs are prominent underneath, and the margin is entire, the edge being thickened; the texture is thick, the surface downy and hairy underneath; in color a strong yellow-green. The leaves are set on short, stout stems, which partly clasp the stalk, and grow in pairs, that occur at right angles to each other.
The flower is small; the crown is reared high upon its little neck, the horns very slender and pointed, the lobes narrow and curving; the texture of the corolla is fine, and its color is a rich crimson, toned to violet, the calyx parts are half as long as the lobes, and are pale green with a crimson tint. The flowers are set on short, small foot-stems, which are downy, and crimson toned; they form rather large loose clusters, on stout green stems, and grow in a terminal group, or singly from the angles of the upper leaves.
The buds are oval in shape, and of a noticeably richer hue than belongs to the opened flower; they form flat-topped clusters before they reach maturity.
This variety varies from the typical incarnata chiefly in being more downy, and shorter of leaf-stem.
Purple Milkweed. Asclepias purpurascens.
Found along dry roadsides in July.
The generally single stalk varies from 1 to 3 feet in height, is tough-fibred, slightly grooved, and a trifle downy to the touch; it is very milky. The color is light green, crimson at the joints.
The long, oval leaf is sharp-pointed at the tip and blunt at the base; its midrib is very flat on the top but round beneath, and the cross-veins show plainly; the margin is entire, the edge curling under, and the upper surface is smooth while the underside is velvety; the color is yellow-green, with a crimson midrib that is purple underneath. The leaves, on short, thick purple stems, are placed in pairs, at alternate angles with one another.
The tubes belonging to the crown of this rather large flower are long and oval in shape, their horns being short and broad with suddenly-straight tips; the lobes are long, oval, and widely flaring; all these parts are colored a strong, dark glowing crimson. The flowers are set on foot-stems that are twice their own length, and pale green in color; they are arranged in a loose cluster upon a short, stout purplish stem, and grow terminally, and from the angles of the upper leaves.
This plant is inappropriately designated purpurascens, since its full and beautiful crimson flowers are unusually pure in tone.
Poke Milkweed. Asclepias phytolaccoides.
Found in moist and shady banks in July.
The leafy stalk is not hollow, but very milky, of a close, firm fibre; it is smooth or slightly downy—especially when young; from 2 to 5 feet in height; clear green.
The large lower leaves (5 or 6 inches long by 3 inches in width) are oval, pointed at both ends; the upper are narrower; their margins are entire, midribs strong, and texture very thin and fine, downy and pleasant to the touch. In color a clear green, paler beneath, the midrib being pinkish above. They are set on short stems, in pairs, which grow at alternate angles.
The flower is large; its oval lobes are very much reversed, and colored a clear light green; the crown tubes are broad, short, and notched at their tips; the horns are long and needle-pointed, they curve, and meet together in the center; these parts are all ivory white, while the little calyx is green. The flowers nod and droop on long, slender, pale foot-stems that hang in a loose cluster on a stout thick stem, which springs from the angle of a side leaf.
Sometimes the plant bears more than one of these flower-clusters; it is the most delicate of our common Milkweeds, exceeding even the Four-leaved in fineness, and the ivory white of its flower crown is remarkable for its clarity of hue.
| Butterfly Weed. | Asclepias tuberosa. |
| Orange Milkweed. | |
| Pleurisy Root. |
Found in dry pastures and fields in July.
The stalk branches often for the flowers; it is leafy, and grows from 2 to 3 feet high, with a strong fibre, its surface is hairy and its color is a strong green, purplish near the foot, and red-orange below the flower-clusters. The juice is not milky.
The long narrow leaf is somewhat blunt-pointed at the tip and heart-shaped at the base, with an entire margin, and a strong midrib; its fibre is strong and coarse, the veins showing, and it is hairy underneath and downy above; the color is a full green, much toned with orange. The leaves are set on short stems, and placed near together, alternately, and with an upward inclination.
The flower is small and long; the crown is set up high on its slender neck, its hoods short and narrow, and yet somewhat longer than the fine-pointed straight horns,—in color a splendid glowing orange; the narrow, fine-pointed lobes are slightly curling, and bright yellow; the calyx is unobservable. The flowers are set on slender, rather long, light green foot-stems, forming a loose flat-topped cluster; the clusters being arranged in a leafy terminal group.
As many as eighteen clusters have been counted upon a single stalk. The color scheme of this plant is especially good; the green betrays the same tawny tone which belongs to the gorgeous flowers.
Common Milkweed. Asclepias Cornuti.
Found in meadows and roadsides, from June to August.
The large, round, and tough-fibred stalk, which grows from 3 to 4 feet high, has a sticky and milky juice, is minutely downy, and pale green.
The leaf is often very large (from 4 to 8 inches long), oval, rounded at both ends, with an entire and somewhat wavy margin, and a large midrib; it is thick in texture, smooth above, but a little downy beneath, and grayish-green in color, the underside being silvery,—the wide midrib is light, or often tinged with dull red.
The flower is rather large; the crown is brownish-pink, the lobes light flesh-pink or pale lilac, and the foot-stems are pinkish. The flower-clusters are large, round, and drooping; they spring from the angles of the upper leaves.
Though regarded as a “weed” this Milkweed has many attractive features.
The seed-pods of the Milkweeds are most interesting; rough on the outside, they are beautifully finished within, with a fine, smooth, light lining. The silky plumes of the flat-brown seeds are closely folded together and the seeds lie overlapping like the scales of a fish. The light green outside of the Butterfly-Weed pod, tinged with crimson-tawny, becomes with age a fine tree-trunk gray. In some varieties a likeness to a dove may be found in the inverted pod.