Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias Tuberosa L.)

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias Tuberosa L.)

Other common names:

• Pleurisy Root
• Butterfly Weed
• Yellow Milkweed
• Orange Swallowwort
• Orangeroot
• Whiteroot
• Indian Posy
• Windroot
• Canada Tuber
• Canada Flux
• Chigger Flower

Asclepias: from the name of the Greek god of healing and medicine

Tuberosa: meaning “tuberous,” referring to the tuberous root

Milkweed Family: Asclepiadaceae

Found throughout the tallgrass biome in dry, open areas, usually in prairies or prairie relicts. Occasionally it is found along old country roads or old or abandoned roads or railroad rights-of-way. Flowers from June to September.

The stout, simple or terminally branched stems are generally clumped and may be up to 2 ½ feet high. Rough-pointed leaves up to 6 inches long alternate along the stem. The typical milkweed milky sap is lacking; instead, a watery juice exudes from the cut stem.

The flowers are normally bright orange but occasionally are yellow. Many individual flowers are in a head.

            The flowers attract insects, but like the flowers of other milkweed plants, they are designed to favor larger flying pollinators and to prevent crawling insects from getting to the nectar. As with other milkweeds, only a few of the numerous flowers get pollinated, so ordinarily a plant has only one or two pods. This is due to a complex pollinating mechanism where the pollen sacs are attached to a structure located in the slit between the anthers. This pollinium, which sticks to the pollinating insect, must be pulled free and carried to another flower. Many insects lack the strength to pull this structure or themselves free and are found dead on the flower head.

            The spindle-shaped pods, 3 to 5 inches long, contain many seeds. Each seed has a silky plume to aid in its dispersal.

            This species reproduces by seed and by rootstock. It is easily established in gardens or in restored prairies from seed, but transplanting is difficult because the root is stout and deep.

At one time this root was considered to be a cure for pleurisy, hence, the name pleurisy root. Early doctors listed pleurisy root as a subtonic, diaphoretic, alternative, expectorant, diuretic, laxative, escharotic, carminative, astringent, ant rheumatic and ant syphilitic.

            The root is enlarged. This gave rise to the last part of the scientific name.

            Butterfly milkweed is one of the most striking species of the tallgrass biome. The bright color may attract insects, including butterflies, hence, its common name.

            At least 16 species of milkweed occur in the heart of the tallgrass prairie. Some provide an index of prairie quality; none are showy as the butterfly milkweed.

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Purple Coneflower

Purple Coneflower

Other common names:

• Black Samson
• Red Sunflower

Echinacea: from the Greek, meaning “sea urchin” or “hedgehog,” referring to the sharp, spiny chaff on the domelike center of this flower.

Purpurea: from the Greek, meaning “purple,” referring to the color of the ray flowers of some species

Daisy Family: Asteraceae (compositae)

Found in prairies and dry, open woods. Blooms late May to October. Other species commonly found in the area are E. angustifolia and E. pallida. E. pallida blooms May to June.

Purple coneflower grows from 2 to nearly 4 feet tall, but other species may be from 2-3 feet tall. The ovate to lineolate lower leaves have toothed edges and are very rough to the touch. The upper leaves and leaves of other species are without toothed edges. Leaves are 3-8 inches long and 1-3 inches wide.

The plant grows from a thick, grayish brown to black perennial root. The furrowed or ridged rootstock is ¼ to ½ inch in diameter.

The flower head has 12-20 spreading or drooping, purple, petal-like rays. Rays occasionally vary from purple to crimson and rarely are pale. Each ray is 1 ½ to 3 inches long. The center cone is more dome-shaped than cone-shaped, and it is rough and prickly to the touch. The entire flower may be 3 to 3 ½ inches across. The rays of a more southern species, E. paradoxa, are bright yellow.

Plains Indians favored the root of purple coneflower for snakebites, bee stings, headaches, stomach cramps, toothaches, enlarged glands such as mumps, sore throats and hydrophobia and doe distemper in horses. The Sioux used freshly scraped root (as a poultice) for snakebite and for the bite of a mad dog, and they chewed pieces of rootstalk for toothache.

American Indians discovered that the plant was somewhat like a burn preventative and enabled the body to endure extreme heat. Medicine men bathed their hands and arms in the juice, the picked out meat from boiling stew. Sometimes it was used prior to sweat baths and ritual feats such as immersing hands in scalding water or holding live coals in the mouth.

A smoke treatment was used for headache in humans and for distemper in horses.

Early doctors thought purple coneflower made the body more resistant to infection, and they often used it to induce profuse sweating. They believed it has a bright future as a medicinal drug source. Modern medicine still uses extracts from this plant for treating wounds and sore throats.

The root of E. angustifolia has been used by the Plains Indians as a pain killer for toothaches and sore throats, since chewing the root causes the throat, tongue and jaw to be numbed. It has also been used as a blood purifier and the treat snakebite, blood poisoning and cancer. Burns were bathed in E. pallida juice to give relief from pain.

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