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Friday, August 28, 2009

Common Milkweed

Here comes the pods! I've been showing you the blossoms of the milkweed plants throughout the summer, and now I'm going to show you the really interesting part of this plant. This is the phase of the milkweed plant that I was first introduced to. I'm going to show you the pods.

The seed pods of the milkweed plant have possibly inspired horror movies. The most well known is The Invasion of The Body Snatchers, where evil replicas of familiar people hatched out of these coffin sized alien space pods. The pods bore a resemblance to these milkweed pods.

These fresh milkweed pods really do look alien and strange. That's why I like them so much. Inside them are thousands of seeds that are attached to fluff. When the pods burst open, the seeds and the fluff float into the air and are carried by the wind to a distant location so the plants may spread across great distances.

As far as I know it's only Common Milkweed that has these pods. Others only have the pretty little flowers with the evil looking fangs on them. I just read, right before I typed this sentence, that small insects can get caught in those fangs and die. So the fangs are more real than I ever imagined!

But we're talking about the pods today. Some people claim that some parts of this plant are edible, but I'm not so sure about this. Everything else I've read say it's poisonous. Maybe parts are and other parts are not. It is claimed that Native Americans used an extract of this plant as cough medicine.

People used to use the fluff from these plants to stuff pillows. And more recently the same fluff has been used to stuff life jackets. Milkweed is the favorite food of Monarch Butterflies. They and their larvae are both very poisonous as a result. The same goes for the Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle that I featured yesterday.

Another creature that eats these are Small Milkweed Bugs, which I have also featured in the past. That was probably right before anyone really read this blog very much. I used to write very many informative posts about these plants. Some weren't so informative. Those last ones were just strange.

Anyway, take a good look at the pictures I have for you today. I've given you a good look at a few milkweed plants with some very fresh seed pods on them. They're very interesting plants. If you would like to learn more about them, a search of my blog and a read through of a few old posts will give you plenty.

HEY YOU! Vote in my pole! There are only a few days left and the votes are very low. It's not like you're voting for President, so voter apathy doesn't need to apply here. Just kidding. This is one of the fun polls, so go ahead and vote.

15 comments:

  1. Oh!! looks like a closed fly-eater plant! Are they edible Ratty? :D

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  2. Hi Ratty- what a strange looking plant! I've not seen them before or even heard of them- well apart from on here that is. Great post :)

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  3. When the puds burst open, thousands of aliens will land onto our world, these evasions have taken place every now and then. You maybe one of them!

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  4. So now I know this is called milkweed plant. I saw them before but didn't know their name..

    Very green and great photos, Ratty!

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  5. Hello,after a fairly long time visiting your blog,as always great work.
    regards

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  6. you have given us some great info on this plant. i have read that the root of this plant has been used in a tea as a diuretic.

    have a great day my friend...xoxox

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  7. When I lived in upstate NY, I loved playing in the milkweed pods when they were ready to burst open. Very soft and nice. I wish we had some where I live now, I'd still do it!

    Love your blog, it reminds me of the stuff that I have always loved doing, just being outside, having fun wandering.

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  8. Good information Ratty, this is one of those plants I never really paid attention to when I ran across them. I will be watching for milkweed from now on.

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  9. i remember your alien pods :) before

    very interesting formation, you're right, they look strange.

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  10. Many parts of the Milkweed are edible! Young leaves can be cooked like greens. The flowers can be dipped in batter and fried like fritters. But what I like best is to harvest the flower buds when they look like tiny broccoli heads and boil them just a bit. Yum!

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  11. Looks to be a good year for pods. I should have plenty of new siblings soon.

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  12. VanillaSeven - I have read some things that say they are somewhat poisonous, and I have read in other places that some parts can be eaten. Sharkbytes says parts of the plant can be eaten, and she is someone that would know. I trust her judgment on this very much.
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    Bemused - It's possible these are only found here in America. They are a fun plant to look at.
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    Rainfield - That's right! I may be one of them. WiseAcre also claims to be one of them. These plants hatch little jerkweed creatures that want to take over the world. So watch out, we're coming to get you!
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    Icy BC - Now that you know about them, you'll probably see many more. They're very common in our area. Grab one of the pods and break it open.
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    DRMartyr - Thanks and welcome back.
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    Flyingstars - Thank you.
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    PJ - I have read similar things about this plant. It's a great plant.
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    Jessica - That's the same way I first discovered these plants. I have loved them ever since I can remember. I have many more things like this on here.
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    SquirrelQueen - These are very interesting pants. Try opening up one of the pods one time.
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    Betchai - I'm glad you remember that one. The alien pod story demonstrates how much I love these milkweed plants. I only write things like that about the things I like very much.
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    Sharkbytes - Thank you for the very valuable information. I never knew any of this. I only just recently learned a hint that they weren't poisonous. Thanks for more than confirming it. I'm glad you're back!
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    WiseAcre - Yup! It's time for Jerkweed Pod People season. The invasion is coming!

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  13. I love the smell of milkweed blossoms on a still evening. I've read the same thing (possibly from the same book) about milkweed's edibility. Regardless, it doesn't look like something I'd want to eat.

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  14. Interesting as always, Ratty! You sure do your homework on stuff. Thanks!

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