White-Flowered Milkweed

Member of Milkweed Family

Blooms: April - July

This is the most beautiful of the milkweeds. It grows on a single stem usually with 2-3 flower heads per stem. All the milkweeds have the same shaped flowers which is unique in design as it seems to trap insects causing them to struggle to escape and therefore, getting more pollen on their legs and body .

This plant grows in sandy, rocky soils of openings and along woodlines and thickets, mostly in North East and South East Texas.

Milkweeds have been an important medicinal source for centuries. Some species can be boiled an eaten, their young "fruit" pods resemble those of okra. They are a good source of cordage from it's tough, stringy stems. It's milky latex makes a rubbery glue. Native Americans often chewed the latex as gum.

"For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves......."

Deuteronomy 31:20