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.