Alternate name: Pleurisy Root, Butterfly Milkweed
Family: Asclepiadaceae, Milkweed view all from this family
Description Small bright orange clustered flowers crown the leafy, hairy stem.
Flowers: 3/8" (9 mm) wide, with 5 curved-back petals and a central crown, in clusters about 2" (5 cm) wide.
Leaves: alternate, oblong, narrow, 2-6" (5-15 cm) long, with juice that is watery, not milky.
Height: 1-2 1/2' (30-75 cm).
Warning All plants in the genus Asclepias are probably somewhat toxic, some fatally so, to both humans and animals. The sap of some causes skin irritation in humans. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.
Flower June-September.
Habitat Dry open soil, roadsides, and fields.
Range Ontario to Newfoundland; New England south to Florida; west to Texas; north through Colorado to Minnesota.
Discussion This showy plant is frequently grown from seed in home gardens. Its brilliant flowers attract butterflies. Because its tough root was chewed by the Indians as a cure for pleurisy and other pulmonary ailments, Butterfly Weed was given its other common name, Pleurisy Root. Although it is sometimes called Orange Milkweed, this species has no milky sap.
