Asclepias exaltata L. POKE MILKWEED. (As A. phytolaccoides)
"Goat Island," Day (1888). Ontario, Queen Victoria Park (as A. phytolaccoides),
Panton (1890). Ontario, Niagara Park
System (as A. phytolaccoides) Cameron (1895). (As A. phytolaccoides),
"Ontario: Niagara Glen (Johnson)," Zenkert (1934). (As A.
phytolaccoides) "... occasionally found in the borders of the woods
below the School," Hamilton (1943). ).
"[Niagara] Glen," sight record, Yaki (1970).
Ontario: Queen
Victoria Park, Cameron [ca.1890] (NFO); Niagara Glen, "open woods," Frank
W. Johnson No. 814, July 2, 1922 (BUF); Niagara Glen, Hamilton, July 20, 1943
(NFO); Niagara Glen, "late spring," Zenkert, 1950 (BUF).
Erie Co.: Grand
Island, in open woods along Niagara River. Charles A. Zenkert July 9, 1932(BUF).
Range: sOnt. Status: Rare in Canada, Argus
& White (1977). Not listed as rare in the Niagara Frontier Region by Zander
and Pierce (1979).
Asclepias incarnata L. SWAMP MILKWEED. "Goat Island. Wet grounds near Clifton, Ontario," Day (1888). Ontario, Queen Victoria Park, Panton (1890). Ontario, Niagara Park System, Cameron (1895). "... in moist places in the Glen," Hamilton (1943). ). "Dufferin Islands, [Niagara] Glen," sight records, Yaki (1970). New York: Cayuga Island, Eckel (1991).
New York:
First of the Three Sisters Islands, east end, on small islet just off
the island, in Salix
and Cornus copse. Flowers deep red-pink. Eckel 8705287 (BUF); Second of the Three
Sisters Islands, east end, Eckel 8705202 (BUF); Buckhorn Island, north end of
Grand Island, Woods Creek margin, fishing area; creek and marsh side, scattered
stations; infrequent, Iris versicolor, Eckel, July 2, 1998 (BUF); Cayuga
Island in
the Niagara River, Jayne Park (north island shore on the Little
Niagara River. Marsh. With Sparganium eurycarpum, Verbena hastata. P. M. Eckel
s.n. July 12, 2001 (BUF).
Erie Co.: Wet
meadow along Niagara River, Town of Tonawanda. Charles A. Zenkert Sept. 20,
l927 (BUF).
Asclepias quadrifolia Jacq.
FOUR-LEAVED MILKWEED. "Niagara
Falls," Clinton (1864). "Rare. Whirlpool woods, Niagara River, American
side," Day (1882). "Near DeVeaux College," Day (1888). Ont.: Niagara Glen, Field Club, 1888. Ontario: "woods on either side of the railway,
leading up the face of the escarpment" just south of Queenston, Macoun
(1893). Ontario, Niagara Park System, Cameron (1895). Ontario: Whirlpool,
Niagara R., Wm. Scott, June 21, 1898, Heimburger (1955). "Near DeVeaux
College above the Whirlpool (Day, Cat. Niag. Fl., E. C. Townsend (1896).)
Ontario: gorge of River at Niagara Glen (1923) (Johnson)," Zenkert (1934).
"Very abundant in the open woods opposite the Glen," Hamilton (1943).
New York: Niagara Falls, Amiel
Chamot, June 14, 1888 (BUF); Deveaux College woods, Edward C.Townsend, June 1,
1896 (BUF); Lewiston, Tuscarora Indian Reservation, Pechuman, June 7, 1952
(BUF). Ontario: Niagara Glen,
"dry, rocky, open woods," Frank W. Johnson No. 816, June 17, 1923
(BUF); Niagara Glen, Hamilton, July 8, 1940 (NFO).
Range: sOnt. Status: Rare in Canada.
Endangered in New Hampshire, Argus & White (1977). ). The only stations known
for Canada appear to occur along the Niagara River region (Argus & Keddy,
1984), the northern tip of its generally southern range: in dry woods. Reported
as rare in the Niagara Frontier Region by Zander and Pierce (1979).
Asclepias syriaca
L. COMMON MILKWEED. Goat Island (as Asclepias cornuti) Sept. 19,
1877 (J. D. Hooker's American Journal). (As A. cornuti)
"Goat Island and elsewhere," Day (1888). (As Asclepias cornuti)
Ontario, Queen Victoria Park, Panton (1890). Ontario, Niagara Park System (as A.
cornuti), Cameron (1895). "The commonest of the Milkweeds ...
widespread along the roadways and in the fields," Hamilton (1943). DeVeaux
College woods, Eckel (1986). New York: Cayuga Island, Eckel (1991). Image
2 (Goat I.)
New York: Deveaux College
woods, Eckel & Zander 110485 (BUF); Goat Island "in thickets on the SW
boundary," Eckel 8703239 (BUF); Whirlpool State Park, gorge rim at
Whirlpool (Deveaux) Point," Eckel 8706057 (BUF). Ontario: Queen Victoria Park, Cameron [ca. 1890] (NFO).
Asclepias
tuberosa L. BUTTERFLYWEED. "...
near the Whirlpool, on either side of Niagara R., and in a few other
places," Day (1882). Ontario: "... Niagara Falls .... (Maclagan.)
.... Whirlpool, Niagara River ... (McGill Coll. Herb.)" Macoun (1884).
"Below the Falls on both sides of the River," Day (1888). ). Ont.: Niagara Glen, Field Club, 1888. Ontario, Queen Victoria
Park, Panton (1890). Ontario, Niagara
Park System, Cameron (1895). "Below the Whirlpool," Day (1901).
Ontario: Queenston, Wm. Scott, Sept. 7, 1898; Queenston Heights, R. Cameron,
July 6, 1900 (CAN), Heimburger (1955). "Ontario: gorge of River at Niagara
Glen," Zenkert (1934). "... flourishing in the dry, sandy soil of the
district," Hamilton (1943). ).
"[Niagara] Glen," sight record, Yaki (1970).
New York:
Whirlpool State Park, crest at Whirlpool (Deveaux) Point, "dry, gravelly
soil amid grasses, small population, Eckel 8705190 (BUF); dry, gravelly slopes, gorge, one mile south
of Lewiston, Heavy Cornus racemosa growth,Rhus typhina, Rhus aromatica.
Gravelly,shales. Eckel, June
17, 1988 (BUF); abundant population, rocky flats, whirlpool basin, Eckel,
Zander & Plagemans, July 1, 1988 (BUF).
Ontario: Hydro Property,
near School of Horticulture, Morley, July 17, 1961 (NFO).
Reported as protected and rare in New York State by Zander and
Pierce (1979). Common name is a reference to the pollination of this plant, and
others in the genus, by monarch butterflies. Image 2.
Asclepias verticillata L. WHORLED MILKWEED.
"Niagara Falls," Clinton (1864). Ontario: "Vicinity of Niagara
Falls. (Burgess.)" Macoun (1884). "Rare. Whirlpool woods, Niagara R.,
American side," Day (1882). "Near DeVeaux College," Day (1888).
Ontario, Niagara Park System, Cameron (1895). Ontario: Niagara Falls, W.
Saunders, July 14, 1881; Whirlpool, Niagara R., Wm. Scott, Aug. 23, 1902, July
24, 1902, Heimburger (1955). "Above the gorge ... near the Whirlpool (Day,
Cat. Niag. Fl.; Miss Wright (1896)," Zenkert (1934).
New York: "Niagara
Falls" [no other data] (BUF); "Niagara Falls, Whirlpool woods, edge
of the chasm," George W. Clinton [1860-1870;s] (BUF); Lewiston. small
population facing R.R. Moses Power Plant north of Devil's Hole in seepage,
Eckel, Aug. 19, 1987 (BUF); Scattered in crevices of dolomite flats at
bottom of the Niagara River Gorge, just upstream from the Whirlpool. Alfred
Schotz 469 July 22, 1990 (BUF).
Range: seSask-sMan, swOnt.
Status: Extremely rare in western New York (Clinton Herbarium 1974), Argus
& White (1977). There appears to have been a post 1964 station in the
Niagara region in "open, sandy woods," (Argus & Keddy, 1984).
Reported as rare in the
Niagara Frontier Region by Zander and Pierce (1979).
[Asclepias viridiflora Raf.] GREEN MILKWEED. Ontario: "On dry or gravelly soil
from Niagara Falls westward to the Rocky Mountains." Macoun (1884).
"Niagara Falls" (Macoun)," Day (1888). Ontario, Niagara Park
System, (as Aceratus viridiflora) Cameron (1895).
Reported as a doubtful element
of the Niagara Frontier flora by Zander and Pierce (1979). Reported as rare in
New York State by Mitchell (1986). This species is on the Rare Plant Status
List of the New York Natural Heritage Program (Young, 1992). Range: sBC-sMan,
sOnt. Status: Rare in Canada (Argus
& White 1977) with no stations reported in the Niagara area of Ontario
(Argus & Keddy, 1984).
