Asclepias
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Read about Asclepias in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Asclepias (ancient Greek and Latinized name). Asclepiadaceae. Milkweed. Silkweed. Perennial milky-juiced herbs, sometimes used in the hardy border or wild garden. Erect, with deep thick and hard perennial roots: Lvs. opposite or verticillate (rarely alternate), entire: fls. gamopetalous, the corolla segms. generally strongly reflexed; stamens 5, attached to the corolla, the anthers more or less united about the stigma; between the corolla and the stamens is a crown of 5 cornucopia-like horns or appendages; pollen cohering into a waxy mass (pollinium) which is removed bodily by insects that visit the fl.: fr. 2 warty, or echinate or smooth follicles. The pollination of an asclepias fl. is shown in Fig. 398. The pollen-masses are usually twin (as at 6), and the handle or caudicle lies in a chink on the side of the stigma. The pollen-masses become attached to the legs or mouth parts of the insect, and are thereby transferred to another fl.—The milkweeds are common in waste places in N. Amer., and are rarely cult. About 80 species are known, mostly North American, but others in Cent, and S. Amer. and Afr. Several species (described below) have been offered by dealers in native plants. The butterfly-weed and some others are very showy and worthy of more general attention. The large-lvd. kinds are desirable when heavy foliage effects are wanted. They are all perennials of the easiest cult. Prop, by division, rarely by seeds.
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 Asclepias tuberosa in bloom, showing pollinators | ||||||||||||||
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Asclepias L. (1753), the milkweeds, is a genus of herbaceous perennial, dicotyledonous plants that contains over 140 known species. It used to belong to the family Asclepiadaceae, but this is now classified as a subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family Apocynaceae.
Milkweeds are an important nectar source for bees and other nectar seeking insects, and a larval food source for monarch butterflies and their relatives, as well as a variety of other herbivorous insects (including numerous beetles, moths, and true bugs) specialized to feed on the plants despite their chemical defenses. Milkweed is named for its milky juice, which contains alkaloids, caoutchouc, and several other complex compounds including cardenolides. Some species are known to be toxic.
Carolus Linnaeus named the genus after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, because of the many folk-medicinal uses for the milkweed plants.
Pollination in this genus is accomplished in an unusual manner, as the pollen is grouped into complex structures called pollinia (or "pollen sacs"), rather than being individual grains, as is typical for plant pollen. The flower petals are smooth and rigid, and the feet of visiting insects (predominantly large wasps, such as spider wasps, which visit the plants for nectar) slip into notches in the flowers, where the sticky bases of the pollinia attach to the feet, pulling the pollen sacs free when the pollinator flies off. Bees, including honey bees only gather nectar from milkweed flowers, and are generally not effective pollinators despite the frequency of visitation.
Species in the Asclepias genus grow their seeds in pods. These seed pods contain soft filaments known as either silk or floss. The filaments are attached to individual seeds. When the seed pod ripens, the seeds are blown by the wind, each carried by several filaments.
Species
Some Asclepias species:
| Asclepias acida | Possibly used to create Soma. | |
| Asclepias amplexicaulis | Blunt-leaved milkweed | |
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Asclepias asperula | Antelope horns |
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Asclepias curassavica | Scarlet milkweed, Bloodroot, Bastard Ipecacuanha |
| Asclepias exaltata | Poke milkweed | |
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Asclepias fascicularis | Narrow leaf milkweed |
| Asclepias humistrata | Sandhill milkweed | |
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Asclepias incarnata | Swamp milkweed |
| Asclepias lanceolata | Lanceolate milkweed | |
| Asclepias linearis | ||
| Asclepias obovata | ||
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Asclepias physocarpa | Gomphocarpus physocarpus, commonly balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush or swan plant |
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Asclepias purpurascens | Purple milkweed |
| Asclepias quadrifolia | Four-leaved milkweed | |
| Asclepias rubra | Red milkweed | |
| Asclepias speciosa | Showy milkweed | |
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Asclepias subulata | Rush milkweed(Leafles
s milkweed) |
| Asclepias sullivantii | Sullivant's milkweed | |
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Asclepias syriaca | Common milkweed |
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Asclepias tuberosa | Butterfly weed, Pleurisy root |
| Asclepias variegata | White milkweed | |
| Asclepias verticillata | Whorled milkweed | |
| Asclepias vincetoxicum |
Uses
These milkweed filaments or floss are coated with wax, and have good insulation qualities. Tests have shown them to be superior to down feathers for insulation. During World War II, over 11 million pounds (5000 t) of milkweed floss were collected in the United States as a substitute for kapok.
In the past, the high dextrose content of the nectar led to milkweed's use as a source of sweetener for Native Americans and voyageurs.
The bast fibers of some species were also used for cordage.
Milkweed latex contains about 1 to 2% caoutchouc, and was attempted as a natural source for rubber by both Germany and the United States during World War II. No record has been found of large-scale success.
Milkweed is a common folk remedy used for removing warts. Milkweed sap is applied directly to the wart several times daily until the wart falls off. Dandelion sap is often used in the same manner.
Milkweed is beneficial to nearby plants, repelling some pests, especially wireworms.
Milkweed also contains cardiac glycoside poisons which inhibit animal cells from maintaining a proper K+, Ca+ concentration gradient. As a result many natives of South America and Africa used arrows poisoned with these glycosides to fight and hunt more effectively.