(Common) Milkweed, also known as silkweed. Milkweed sap can be applied as a remedy for poison ivy or to remove warts, and it was common to use as a clotting agent for small wounds. After being properly cooked, chewing the roots cures dysentery, and infusions of the roots and leaves was used to treat typhus fever, asthma, and to suppress coughs. The floss, which is hypoallergenic, is superior to down feathers when used as insulation. As an added surprise, the floss is evidently six times more buoyant than cork.
There is a section of trail that edges a field and cow pasture before the path retreats again into the woods, and it is home to hundreds of milkweed. When we walked through there in the fall, we caught the majority of the plants at their peak seeding time. Hundreds of seed pods, some not quite open but cracked, others splayed like wounds of fluff, and a few merely empty shells. The way the light hit the silk was simply splendid; I just couldn't stop taking photos.
