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Butterfly Weed or Chigger Weed
Asclepias tuberosa L.
(as-KLEP-ee-us tu-ba-RO-sa)
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General:
This native perennial is widely planted for its beautiful
flowers. It is greatly valued as a food plant to attract
butterflies, especially the monarchs.
The silk attached to the seeds has been used in decorating clothing to
replace feathers. It has also been used to stuff pillows.
It has a long, fleshy, branching taproot. In folk medicine, a
root infusion was taken for rheumatism. Boiled with Blackroot
(Pterocaulon) and Snakeroot, it was used to treat colds. It was
sometimes called Pleurisy Root because it was used to treat lung
conditions. Unlike other members of this genus, called milkweeds,
the sap of A. tuberosa is clear, and its leaves are alternate rather
than opposite.
Flowers/Fruit:
The brilliant yellow-orange to red flowers are born on several (2 to 3
ft.) stems. The long, tapered seed pods are filled with seeds
attached to long silk.
Leave/:Stems:
The leaves are alternate, simple, lanceolate (lance shaped) and sessile
(having no stem) with some variation. The margins are slightly
wavy. The surface is smooth and feels satiny. The erect
stem is hairy, green and branched near the top.
Distribution:
Found in relatively dry, open areas throughout Florida and the eastern U.S.
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