Butterfly Milkweed

(Asclepias tuberosa)

Other Names:
Pleurisy root, orange milkweed, chigger weed

Range:


Family:
Asclepiadaceae – Milkweed family

Growth Type:
Herbaceous Perennial plant

Height:
The plant can grow up to 3 feet tall.

Leaves:
Lance shaped (lanceolate) leaves grow alternately along the stems. These leaves are smooth, shiny green on top and velvety underneath. They can grow up to 5 inches long, and 1-1/4" wide.

Stem/Trunk:
Multiple hairy (pubescent) stems grow in a cluster from the rootstock. The stems can be up to 3 ft tall.

Root:
Woody rootstock

Flower Season:
Summer into autumn

Flower Appearance:
The flowers are borne in showy rounded to flat groups near the end of the branches. The flowers are typically orange to red in color, but in some cases are yellow. The flower looks like it has two separate parts. There are 5 lower petals that tend to bend downward, and there is a center crown consiting of 5 erect hoods.

Seed/Fruit:
Hairy, spindle shaped, pods 3 - 6 inches long. At their tips, the numerous seeds have long white tufts of hairs.

Miscellaneous characteristics:
N/A

Habitat:
Like other milkweeds, Asclepias tuberosa grows in sandy, loamy, or rocky limestone soils of prairies, open woodlands, roadsides, and disturbed areas.

Parts Used:
Wild food: Entire young plant
Medicine: Rootstock

Culinary Uses:
The young shoots, stems, flower buds, immature fruits, and roots of butterfly milkweed can be boiled and eaten as a cooked vegetable.

Traditional Medicinal Uses:
Pleurisy root as it is often called is an affective treatment for bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonitis, asthma. It is useful to treat conditions characterized by hot, dry mucosa and serous membranes; dry skin and inability to sweat, deficient sebaceous secretions.

Medicinal Actions:
Antispasmodic, Carminative, Cathartic, Diaphoretic, Diuretic, Expectorant, Tonic - Lung, Vasodilator