COMMON MILKWEED. SILKWEED.
Asclepias Mexicana, Cav. Milkweed Family.
Stems.—Three to five feet high; slender. Leaves.—Mostly whorled and fascicled; linear-lanceolate; short-petioled; two to six inches long. Peduncles.—Erect; slender; often in whorls. Flowers.—Very small and numerous; in umbels; white and lavender. Corolla-lobes.—Two lines long. Anthers.—Twice the filament column. Horns.—Awl-shaped; arising from below the middle of the ovate hoods, and conspicuously curved over the stigma. Pods.—Slender; spindle-shaped. (Structure otherwise as in Gomphocarpus.) Hab.—Throughout the State, and beyond its borders.
This is one of our most widely distributed milkweeds, and may be found blossoming along our dusty roadsides and through the fields in early summer. Its stems are tall and wandlike with long, narrow leaves, and its little blossoms are very trim. Its distaff-shaped pods, with their beautiful silken down, are familiar objects, much beloved by the children, and are sought by older people who utilize them in many dainty ways.