The common milkweed produces from one to three inflorescences, each bearing 20 to 100 or more rose to purplish-white flowers which are borne on stalks that arise from the upper leaf axils. The specialized fruits of the common milkweed, called follicles, are up to four inches long and 1.5 inches thick. Inside these warted, pod-like structures are large seeds bearing white hairs nearly two inches long. During World War II, the follicles were collected for their fluffy seeds which substituted for kapok in emergency flotation devices.