Asclepias, the milkweeds, is a genus of herbaceous perennial, dicotyledonousplants in the family Asclepiadaceae that contains over 140 known species. Milkweeds are an important nectar source for bees and other nectar seeking insects, and a larval food source for monarch butterflies. Milkweed is named for its milky juice, which contains alkaloids, caoutchouc, and several other complex compounds including cardenolids. Some species are known to be toxic.
Linnaeus named the genus after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, because of the many folk-medicinal uses for the milkweed plants.
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:
A. acida
A. amplexicaulis - Blunt-leaved milkweed
A. curasavica - Scarlet milkweed, Bloodroot, Bastard Ipecacuanha
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 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 voyaguers.
Milkweed latex contains about 1-2% 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.
Milkweeds are perennialplants, which means an individual plant lives for more than one year, growing each spring from rootstock and seeds rather than seeds alone.
Milkweeds have a unique and fascinating pollination mechanism in which the plant relies on Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps) for pollination.
The milkweed fruit is a follicle, commonly referred to as a pod, which splits at one suture to release many seeds, sometimes hundreds, depending on the species.
Milkweed floss was collected from across the country during WWII as a stuffing material for life vests.
It turns out that milkweed floss is a hollow, wax-coated, flexible fiber six times lighter than wool and ideally suited as a substitute for kapok.
This year, the first five-acre field of milkweed will begin producing pods near Macomb, Ill. In addition to the floss, an extract from the seeds has been found to be effective at controlling nematodes and may have commercial applications.
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