November 13, 2004
Common Milkweed and Black Swallowwort
Asclepias Syriaca and Cynanchum nigrum
Both are members of the Milkweed Family (Aesclepiadaceae),
but one is a native wildflower that provides food for monarch
butterflies, the other, an invasive Eurasian vine that is wreaking
havoc in meadows and neglected gardens across New England.
Their similarities become visible in the fall when both produce
large seeds attached to white fibers that act as parachutes to
carry them far and wide.