asclepias

[In Fr. asclépiade; Ital. asclepiade; Sp. asclepiad a; Lat. asclepias; Gr. ἀσκληπιάς ( asklēpias ), a plant, the Swallowwort ( Asclepias vincetoxicum?); from ̓Ασκλη πιός ( Asklepios ), the Roman Esculapius or Esculapius, the fabled god of medicine.j A genus of plants, the typical one of the order Asclepiad aceæ. The species are found chiefly along the eastern portion of North America, in Bermuda, . Though all more or le poisonous, they are used medicinally. A. decumbens excites general perspiration without in any perceptible degree increasing the heat of the body. It is used in Virginia as a remedy against pleurisy. Another variety, A. tuberosa, is a mild cathartic and diaphoretic. The root and tender stalks of A. volubil is create sickne and expectoration. A. tuberosa (Butterfly Weed) and A. cura avica, sometimes but incorrectly called ipecacuanha, are also medicinal plants, whilst A. lactifera yields a sweet copious milk used by the Indians, .; hence the ordinary name milkweed. A. aphylla and stipitacea are eatable. ( Lindley.)