ASCLEPIADACEAE 



MILKWEED FAMILY 



BUTTERFLY WEED. PLEURISY ROOT 



Asclepias tuherosa L. 



This plant served the Indians with medicine and food. 

 The root was used in treatment of pleurisy, the green 

 fruits in the cooking of buffalo meat much as green Pep- 

 pers are used with 

 chicken or other meats, 

 and from the flow- 

 ers crude sugar was 

 extracted. 



Most beautiful of Milk- 

 weeds and handsome 

 enough for any flower gar- 

 den, the Butterfly Weed is 

 at its best in dry field, hill- 

 side or along the road. It 

 is found in practically all 

 states east of the Rockies 

 and its glowing orange 

 flowers, blooming from June 

 to August, are everywhere 

 admired. 



Numerous stout hairy 

 stems from the same stout 

 and deeply penetrating root 

 grow 1-2 feet high and give 

 a bushy appearance to the 

 plant. The leaves are alter- 

 nate instead of opposite, and the abundant milky juice character- 

 istic of other Milkweeds is lacking. 



The corolla is greenish orange and the hoods, 2 or 3 times as 

 long as the anthers, are bright orange or yellow. The horns are 

 slender and within the crown. The follicles are covered with 

 very short whitish hairs. 



A form of this plant which is identical except for its yellow flowers 

 in place of orange has been recognized by two Illinois authorities as 

 occasionally growing with the Pleurisy Root. It is the lellow 

 Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa L. forma lutea Clute, according 

 to Pepoon. 



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