FOURLEAF MILKWEED
File Size: 37 KB
 
Asclepias quadrifolia  Jacq.
Cherokee County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 10-24 inches
Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family
Flowering Period:   May, June
Also Called: Four-leaved milkweed.
Stems: Erect, simple, mostly solitary, slender, glabrous to pubescent in lines extending down from leaf bases; leafless below.
Leaves: Mostly opposite but with 1-2 whorls of 4 leaves near mid-point of stem; blades lanceolate to ovate, 1 to 5 inches long, 1/2 to 2.8 inches wide, thin, sparsely-hairy on veins; tips long-pointed; stalks 1/5 to 4/5 inch long.
Inflorescences: Umbels, 1-3, terminal or in upper leaf axils, 4- to 35-flowered, on stalks 1/5 to 1.6 inch long.
Flowers: 1/3 to 1/2 inch tall; stalks thread-like, 3/5 to 4/5 inch long, minutely pubescent; calyx lobes 5, lanceolate to ovate, green to purplish, glabrous; corolla lobes 5, elliptic-lanceolate, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long, pale pink to pinkish-white, bent abruptly downward; hoods narrowly oblong, about 1/6 inch long, white, attached near bases, spreading, with prominent lateral teeth above base; horns short, flattened, sickle-shaped, curved inward, attached to lower 1/2 of hood.
Fruits: Pod, very slender, 3.2 to 5.6 inches long, 1/4 to 1/3 thick, lacking tubercles, minutely-hairy to glabrous; seeds broadly oval, to 1/3 inch long, tufted with white to tan hairs at tips.
Habitat: Dry open woods, generally on upland slopes and ridges; chert soils.
Distribution: Southeast corner.
Uses: Native Americans used an infusion of the root to treat backaches and venereal disease. They also used the plant as a laxative, rubbed it on warts to remove them, and used fibers from the plant to make bowstrings.
Comments: Formerly treated as Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed Family.

Fourleaf milkweed flowers
32 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Fourleaf milkweed inflorescence
49 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Fourleaf milkweed flowers
33 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Fourleaf milkweed leaves
47 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Fourleaf milkweed leaves
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Cherokee County, Kansas
Fourleaf milkweed fruit
106 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas