(Click on images to enlarge)
Then I remembered I hadn't posted any pictures of common milkweed when it was in bloom. In fact I did take a few last summer. I don't know why I didn't post them — they didn't come out very well, or I was too busy. Something. Anyway, here they are.
Common milkweed blossoms, with Japanese beetle:
The whole plant:
The seed pods just beginning to form:
As you probably know, the name "milkweed" is inspired by the milky white sap that wells out of the plant's stem or leaves if you break them.
Its scientific name is Asclepius syriaca. I've mentioned before that the genus Asclepius was named for the Greek god of medicine and healing, because this family of plants has historically had numerous medicinal uses. According to Jack Sanders, the name syriaca, meaning "of Syria," was probably given by mistake, since the species is native to North America.
One thing I did not know (until Jack Sanders told me) is that early settlers in this country used the soft, silky threads, by which the seeds travel on the wind, as stuffing for pillows and mattresses. Can you imagine how much work it must have been to gather enough of those threads to stuff a mattress?
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