Milkweed Pods

Description:

From the time their first green shoots appear in spring until their dead brown stalks stand above the snow in winter, the milkweeds have a variety of uses and features of interest. The common name refers to the milky juice that oozes from stems and leaves when they are cut or broken. Because the roots of milkweeds were used as drugs, their scientific name, Asclepias, was taken from that of the Greek god of medicine. The Common Milkweed so often seen in fields, waste places, and along roadsides is the largest and most familiar of the dozen or more kinds found in the Chicago region. The large oval leaves are arranged in pairs on the tall stout stem so that if one pair points east and west, the pair above and the pair below point north and south. Like other milkweeds it is a perennial reproducing both from seeds and long shallow roots that live over the winter. The "milk" is not the sap of the plant but a special secretion. Extremely bitter, it serves as a protection against most nibbling and grazing animals. On the contrary, milkweed leaves are the only food of the caterpillar of our monarch butterfly. Also, this milk quickly seals any wound on the plant because it contains latex and, as it dries, becomes very sticky and elastic, turning into a kind of crude rubber. See how a drop of the milk makes your thumb and fingers cling together. Like rubber cement, it cannot be washed off with soap and water. During World War II when imports of natural rubber from the rubber tree were cut off, the milkweed was tested as a possible substitute. In spring, the tender shoots can be boiled and eaten like asparagus. In autumn, the roots are still collected and marketed in small amounts for the drugs they contain. Formerly, these were common remedies for lung trouble and rheumatism. The Indians made twine from the coarse strong fibers in the bark of the stalk. The dead stalks with their picturesque empty pods are favorites for making winter bouquets and art objects.