Asclepias (asklepias)

[NL., L. Æsculapius, Æsculapius, the tutelary god of medicine.] A large genus of North American herbs, natural order Asclepi adaceæ, popularly known as milkweed or silkweed. The plants are perennial herbs with milky juice, mostly upright with opposite or verticillate leaves, the flowers in umbels, and the seeds tufted with long silky hairs. Of the more than 70 species, nearly 50 are found within the United States. The butterfly-weed or pleurisy root, A. tuberosa, has diaphoretic and mild purgative proрerties. The bastard ipecacuanha of the West Indies, A. cura avica, is a powerful emetic. Some of the species afford an excellent fiber.