Native Flowers Asclepias syriaca

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Asclepias syriaca

*Common Milkweed*

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Most photos by Ann Grandy and Sally J.A.Finzel, unless otherwise noted to the left. Please ask for permission before using images.

Soil: Dry, Mesic
Sun: Full,Partial
Height: 2'-6'
Color: Pink
Blooms: Jun-Aug
Flowers: There are about 15,130 flowers to each flower cluster. Each flower has 5 recurved petals around a central crown.
Leaves: The leaves are opposite and ovate to elliptical. They are slightly hairy on the top and very hairy on the bottom. They contain a white, milky sap.

Suggested Uses:

Interesting Facts

Medicinal Uses: Milkweed is toxic if not properly prepared. It is poisonous to humans and livestock. Yet, it has been used as a medicine by many Native America tribes. While it was used for such ailments as stomachaches and warts, its primary use was for contraception, venereal diseases and to increase milk production in nursing mothers. One contraceptive recipe used a handful of pulverized milkweed and three jack-in the pulpit rhizomes boiled in water.
Food Uses: Roots, shoots and young stems and flower heads were boiled and eaten by several Native American tribes. You can boil and batter the flowers and eat them like fritters. The shoots can be eaten if boiled in several changes of water. The flowers can be boiled down into a sugar like substance.
Other Uses: During WWII, the plumes from the seeds were used as a substitute for kapok in life jackets. The sap was tested as a rubber substitute. In Europe, the plumes were used in pillows and hats. It was used as a fiber for cordage. The plant was cut in the fall and split open to reveal the long fibers. These fibers were twisted together to make ropes, cords, and rough clothing.
More Info: Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves. The toxins in the leaves make the Monarch caterpillar distasteful to predators.
Name: The name Asclepias is from the name of the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios.
Other Names: Virginia-silk, algodoncillo, silky swallowwort, herbe ˆ la ouate, Seidenpflanze

Option	Price	Quantity
3 1/2-inch pots	$4.25
6-pack	$6.95
5 3/4-inch pots	$7.95

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Do not use native plants for food or medicine based on the information in this website. The information listed here is included for entertainment only, not as a recommendation. Please do not eat any native plants!

Morning Sky Greenery is a Minnesota Native Plant Nursery, growing native plants for shoreline restoration, raingardens and infiltration basins, and backyard butterfly, birdwatcher and pollinator gardens. We carry many native plants of North America, specifically midwest varieties. We have the expertise and the plants available to make any size native landscape or garden project a success!

MN Native Wildflowers and Grasses • Native Prairie Plants • Native Plants of North America &bull Shoreline Restoration &bull Native Raingardens