Common milkweed pods

The pods of the common milkweed, Asclepias syrica, are covered with spiny projections. When the pods burst, clouds of seeds carrying feathery projections emerge. Thus there two efficient modes of seed dispersal, through the hooks seen here, attached to animals, and also through wind dispersal which is probably the more efficient. I do not know why Linnaeus would choose syriaca as the specific name, but this is a Linaean name.