Common White Milkweed. The flower clusters can be boiled down to make a sugary syrup. Asclepias is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants known as milkweeds named for their latex a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides exuded where cells are damaged.
Asclepias syriaca common milkweed is a rhizomatous perennial prized for its domed clusters of sweetly scented pinkish purple starry flowers which bloom from early to late summer. They are used like broccoli. The white milkweed thrives in open upland forests and woodland edge habitats and requires some shade.
The herb produces one or two large wart like pods that mature in the fall redwing milkweed is a native perennial in the acanthaceae family.
They taste somewhat like peas. This is the source of another common name red ring milkweed illinois has several native species of milkweed with white flowers although most of these have rather restricted ranges within the state. The herb produces one or two large wart like pods that mature in the fall redwing milkweed is a native perennial in the acanthaceae family. The flowers are mostly white except for a narrow purple ring between the petals and the hooded corona.