Herb of the Week

Herb of the Week: Milkweed

This week’s herb is: Milkweed

Milkweed [Asclepias syriaca]common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, Virginia Silkweed
Gender: masculine, Element: Fire, Planet: Mars, Moon

Milkweed Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is the best known of the 100 or so milkweed species native to North America. The name “common” fits the plant well because when not in bloom, it goes pretty much unnoticed, growing humbly along roadsides, in fields, and in wastelands. The highly fragrant, nectariferous flowers vary from white (rarely) to pinkish and purplish and occur in umbellate cymes. Individual flowers are about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter, each with five horn-like hoods and five pollinia. The seeds, each with long, white flossy hairs, occur in large follicles.
More than 450 insect species feed on A. syriaca, including flies, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and butterflies; it is an important food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch butterfly larvae consume only milkweed.  Most milkweeds grow to at least one foot high, with some reaching more than six feet, and have tough, green stems full of strong fibers, two or three often long and narrow leaves at each node, and clusters of small flowers that vary in color depending on species, from vivid pinks to mellow oranges to soft whites. Milkweeds also produce pods full of seeds with fluffy white hairs that make them float in the wind for dispersal. Milkweed is well known to Native Americans as a cure for a variety of ailments, such as skin conditions, stomach ailments, chest pains, and the common cold.  Early European settlers called milkweed “pleurisy root” and used an infusion to relieve lung inflammation. The U.S. government listed the root of butterfly milkweed as an official herbal remedy from 1820 to 1936.

Herbal and Healing:

Healing Properties: antimicrobial, antiseptic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, emmenagogue, expectorant, purgative, stimulant, anti-wart

Milkweed is antimicrobial and antiseptic.  Crushed milkweed leaves were used externally to treat skin ulcers, skin cancers, wounds, ringworm, and headaches, while the root was made into a powder or juice and applied topically to cure tumors and treat wounds, boils, and rashes. The sap was used externally for leprosy, to make warts and freckles disappear (due to its caustic properties), to lighten skin, and to treat ear infections (by the Maya). The seeds were sometimes used on sores. The powder of the root and the infusion of it has been used to relieve cough and pain in cases of asthma and typhus and are also used for scrofula. A. tuberosa Butterfly Flower, was used to treat respiratory conditions, including pleurisy, lung inflammation, colds, etc. Additional internal traditional uses included toothache; heart conditions; fever, headache, digestive conditions including gas, indigestion, diarrhea, and vomiting; and as a contraceptive and abortifacient. The plant is poisonous if overused.

 MAGICAL PROPERTIES: Healing, Protection, Transformation

The presence of milkweed in your garden is believed to encourage the presence of nature spirits and devas. Milkweed enhances one’s creative energy and imagination. It is believed if used on Autumn Eve, it allows you to enter the realm of faerie and be able to see nature spirits. Milkweed is named after Asclepius the Greek god of medicine. In Greek mythology, he was the son of Apollo.