Asclepias speciosa
Torr.
Showy milkweed
Asclepias speciosa is a perennial herb that is native to California, and also found elsewhere in North America and beyond.
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Apocynaceae
(Asclepiadaceae) - Asclepias
Bloom Period
The blue points on the map indicate observations in Calflora.
Click on the map to view observations within a specific county.
Click on the map to view observations within a specific county.
Jepson eFlora section:
eudicot
USDA PLANTS group:
Dicot
Do not eat any part of this plant.
Equally likely to occur in wetlands and non wetlands
Yellow Pine Forest, Mixed Evergreen Forest, wetland-riparian
[westernnativeseed.com] Ethnobotany: People have used milkweed for fiber, food, and medicine all over the United States and southern Canada. Fibers from the stems of milkweed have been identified in prehistoric textiles in the Pueblo region. Tewa-speaking people of the Rio Grande still make string and rope from these fibers. At Zuni, the silky seed fibers are spun on a hand-held wooden spindle and made into yarn and woven into fabric, especially for dancers. Pueblo people ate green milkweed pods and uncooked roots from one of the species that forms fleshy tubers underground. (link added by Mary Ann Machi)
