Roaming Roots

COMMON MILKWEED

August 23, 2022

As we drove east from the Black Hills of South Dakota, the terrain transitioned to grassland prairie with patches of common milkweed.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

This native plant grows 2-4 feet on stout, erect green stems with large, leathery, opposite, and oblong leaves with reddish veins and downy undersides.

Both stems and leaves produce a milky sap containing toxic cardiac glycosides called cardenolides when crushed.

An interesting side note, digitoxin from the foxglove plant (of which the cardiac medication digoxin is made) is also a cardenolide.

Cooking milkweed denatures the toxic cardiac glycosides making the plant safe to eat.

In summer, milkweed blooms with long-lasting, showy, 2- to 3-inch umbels. Each fragrant cluster has up to 100 individual 5-petaled flowers in shades of pink, white, or lavender.

The fruit is a warty seed pod averaging 2- to 4-inch long 1 2/3 inch wide with a thick end and tapered tip.

Caution: Some people have allergic reaction to the milky sap. Avoid contact with eyes and wash hands thoroughly after touching the plant.

TRADITIONAL USES AND HERBAL BENEFITS

Although toxic when not prepared properly or ingested in large quantities, milkweed has numerous traditional and current uses.

• Stems were broken down to make natural-fiber string and rope.
• The sap was used to treat warts, venereal disease, edema, and kidney stones.
• Infusions of the roots and leaves were used as an expectorant and to treat typhus fever, sore throats, asthma, diarrhea and wounds.
• Boiled young sprouts, floral buds, and immature fruits used as food, especially in soup, by the Omaha, Dakota, Pawnee, Ponca, and Winnebago. This practice continues today among many different communities.
• The seed floss was used to make life jackets in WWII – it will float in water while supporting up to 30 times its weight.
• Contemporary use of the seed floss includes manufacturing hypoallergenic pillows, comforters, and insulating fiber.

Milkweed’s genus name Asclepias honors the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios, and there is current research that supports this plant is a good source of antimicrobial agents, and therefore, its ethnobotanical importance is justified.

MILKWEED & MONARCHS

Common milkweed is the sole larval host plant for Monarch butterflies. The caterpillars are immune to the toxins the plant produces and these chemicals accumulate in the insect’s body, making them poisonous to predators.

To sustainably harvest milkweed:

• Only harvest from healthy colonies with an abundance of plants.
• Only take what you need – leave some for the butterflies.
• If you see a monarch caterpillar or chrysalis on a plant, leave it. In the words of the forager chef, Alan Bergo,”they were there first.”
• Milkweed will grow back after cutting so don’t uproot the entire plant when harvesting.

RESOURCES, NOT RECIPES

The milkweed pods I had harvested were too old and tough to be eaten in their entirety, but I had held out hope that the silk on the inside would still be young enough. Unfortunately, it was not to be. As you can see from this picture, the silk had already started to transition into seeds rendering even that inedible.

Nevertheless, after all my research into this plant I am keen to try it. If you are too, check out these resources:

• Forager Chef’s Guide to Milkweed
• Forager Chef’s Milkweed Shoots
• Forager Chef’s Milkweed Pods
• Chuck Kleine & West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Edible Mountain: How To Cook Milkweed Pods
• Forager Chef’s Milkweed Flowers
• Forager Chef’s Milkweed Silk/Milkweed White
• Backyard Forager’s Milkweed Flower Cordial

References

Araya, J. J., Kindscher,K. & Timmermann, B. N. (2012, February 8). Cytotoxic cardiac glycosides and other compounds from Asclepias syriaca. Journal of Natural Products, 75(3) 400–407. https://doi.org/10.1021/np2008076

Chandler, R. (2019, January 21). Milkweed history and uses 101. Save our monarchs. https://www.saveourmonarchs.org/blog/milkweed-history-and-uses-101#:~:text=Not%20only%20is%20it%20a%20vital%20plant-food%20for,many%20uses%20may%20just%20surprise%20you%21%20Historical%20Uses

Lohmiller, G. & Lohmiller, B. (2022, May 31). Common milkweed: Uses and natural remedies. Almanac. https://www.almanac.com/common-milkweed-uses-and-natural-remedies#:~:text=%20Once%20upon%20a%20time%2C%20milkweed%20was%20commonly,were%20taken%20to%20suppress%20coughs%20and…%20More%20

Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.). Asclepias syriaca. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b480

North Carolina State Extension. (n.d.). Asclepias syriaca. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/asclepias-syriaca/

Obafemi, S. & Adegbite, A. (2014, February). Comparative assessment of antibacterial activities of Asclepias syriaca (milkweed) leaf extract and antibiotic drugs on methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus faecium. International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, 4(2). ISSN: 2249-5894