Asclepias subulata

 Asclepias subulata (rush milkweed) ( )

Apocynaceae

• The milky sap of the tissues of milkweed contains toxic compounds called cardiac glycosides. Monarch butterflies that feed on these tissues sequester these toxins in their bodies, making them unpalatable to birds. In addition to milky sap, a feature of milkweed is the large pods, usually several inches in length, that split open when mature and release large numbers of wind-dispersed seeds with hairy plumes.
• Rush milkweed is a tall perennial, reaching up to 3 feet in height. Its common name comes from upright stems tat are leafless for most of the year. It occurs in dry washes at low elevations in the eastern Mojave and Sonoran desert.  "California Desert Plants, Philip J Rundel, Robert W Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."
• The Seri did not distinguish between this and A. subulata. A. albicans generally occurs on more arid sites than does A. subulata. A. subulata is the common reed-stem milkweed in the lowlands of the mainland and on Tiburon Islands; it is absent from San Esteban Island. A. albicans is infrequently encountered, and is usually found on exposed mountain slopes; however, it is common on San Esteban Island. A. albicans is taller than A. subulata  and there are significant floral differences. The stems of both species are slender, erect, and essentially leafless when mature. Adornment: the stems, with the bark removed, were cut into pieces approximately 1 cm in lenght. These pieces were stained blue or red, left natural, or toasted black in a pan filled with sand, sometimes with animal fat added to aid in the toasting. The beads were then strung for necklaces, often with Olivella shells. A special necklace pattern made with alternating black or dark brown and natural colored pieces was called hee yaháaho "jack-rabbit's path". The alternating dark and light colored beads were said to be reminiscent of the pattern of droppings left by a jackrabbit along its trail. Hunting: The San Esteban Island people said to have used white-stem milkweed in hunting chuckwalla. A hunter took one of the long slender branches to a rocky place where chuckwallas occurred, and whipped the branch through the air. The sound frightened the chuckwalla, which tried to hide in a different place. Hearing the large lizard move, the hunter dug it out. Piles of rock were said to be evident where chuckwallas had been hunted on the island. Medicine:  shampoo made by cooking the roots in water was used to cure a headache. The hair was then brushed to get rid of the headache. To relieve a toothache, the root, together with the root of brittlebush, and the entire plant of one of the small spurges (Euphorbia polycarpa/ spp.) were cooked in water, and the resulting liquid was held in the mouth. The liquid was also drunk as a remedy for heart pain. “People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser”