Milkweed is a sun-loving plant that can flourish in many places such as in fields, along roads and on hillsides.
The colorful monarch butterfly is dependent on the milkweed because the monarch caterpillar will feed only on this plant, the toxic elements of which are transferred to the caterpillar and eventually to the monarch butterfly. Birds will quickly learn to avoid the distasteful monarch butterflies in favor of more savory snacks.
When parts of the milkweed plant are broken, a milky-white liquid will ooze out and become solidified to heal the broken plant, the botanical name of which is Asclepias after the Greek god of medicine. When you put some of the milky substance on your hand and let it dry, you will notice it has a crude elastic consistency. Thomas Edison experimented with making rubber from the milkweed’s milk.
Even though the mature plant is toxic, when the milkweed is young, its tender sprouts can be cooked and eaten. The immature seed pods were used in soups by Native Americans.
Insects are necessary in the process of pollinating the milkweed flowers, which therefore have an abundance of nectar along with a heavy fragrance. Of the 2,500 species of milkweed worldwide, about 100 are native to our country.
The brown seeds are arranged in a neat overlapping mosaic within the mature seed pods. Dozens of inch long silky strands are attached to each seed and will carry the seeds airborne in the autumn breeze after the pods burst open. Vagabonds across the landscape, the seeds will ride the wind to far off places. Landing on water, the buoyant milkweed seeds will flow with the current until they come to rest on some distant shore.
During World War II, the U.S. government paid children $15 for every bag of milkweed seed pods collected to be used in making life jackets for the military. It is estimated that more than 11 million pounds of milkweed seeds were collected by the end of the war.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A weed is a plant whose virtue has not been discovered.” Maybe it is time to remove the word “weed” from the name of milkweed. My suggestion: the monarch’s milky way.
