June 27, 2005
Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca
So named because of their milky sap, milkweeds are native wildflowers that are the primary food of the caterpillars of monarch butterflies. They can be found in meadows and along roadsides.

Traditionally, milkweed was a folk remedy for asthma, bronchitis, cancer, catarrh, cough, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, fever, gallstones, gonorrhea, moles, pleurisy, pneumonia, rheumatism, ringworm, scrofula, sores, tumors, ulcers, warts, and wounds (Duke and Wain, 1981; Kloss, 1939; Erichsen-Brown, 1979).