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| ## purple milkweed {#purple-milkweed .Title-Header}                   |
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| *Asclepias cordifolia* (Benth.) Jepson                                |
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| Plant Symbol = ASCO                                                   |
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######### Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

#### Uses

***Warning*** - Milkweed may be toxic when taken internally, without
sufficient preparation

*Ethnobotanic*: 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.

Milkweeds (especially *Asclepias speciosa* and *Asclepias eriocarpa*)
supply tough fibers for making cords and ropes, and for weaving a coarse
cloth Milkweed stems were collected after the stalks dried in late fall
to early winter. The dried stalks were split open to release the fibers;
milkweed fibers were sometimes mixed with fibers of Indian hemp,
*Apocynum cannabinum*. The bark is removed and the fibers released by
first rubbing between the hands and then drawing the fibers over a
stock. Twisting the fiber opposite each other and twining them together
formed the cord; often this was accomplished by rolling the fibers on
the thigh while twisting them together.

*Wildlife*: Milkweed species are attractive to butterflies, bees, and
other insects. Accordingly, this is a wonderful horticultural plant for
beautiful floral landscaping that attracts butterflies (particularly
Monarchs) and other
insects.![](media/image2.png){width="2.1013888888888888in"
height="2.4305555555555554in"}

*Toxicity*: The sap contains a lethal brew of cardenolides (heart
poison), which produces vomiting in low doses and death in higher doses.
Chemicals from the milkweed plant make the monarch caterpillar\'s flesh
distasteful to most animals. At one time milkweed was classified as a
noxious weed due to reported toxic effects on livestock, and efforts
were made to eradicate. Milkweeds are thought to be poisonous to cows
and sheep.

#### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status and wetland indicator values.

**Description**

*General*: Milkweed Family (Asclepiadaceae). *Asclepias* flowers look
like crowns, with the corolla reflexed and hoods elevated above the
corolla. Purple milkweed is a glabrous perennial with ascending stems.
Leaves are opposite, oval, cordate and clasping at base, smooth, bluish
green with purplish tints. The corolla is spreading to reflexed, dark
red-purple; the pales pinkish to purplish hoods are slightly elevated
above the corolla base, with no horns. Fruits are large, oblong, pointed
follicles tightly packed with flat, circular seeds.

#### Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site. Milkweed grows in clumps beside roadways
and on abandoned farmlands and other open areas, reaching heights of 120
to 150 cm (4 to 5 ft) during the summer. Milkweed species grow
throughout the United States. Purple milkweed occurs on rocky slopes,
talus, woods, chaparral, mixed evergreen forest, and lava flows, at
elevations from 50 to 2000 m. Purple milkweed requires sun and porous
soil, and can tolerate moderate amounts of water during its growing
period.

#### Establishment

###### *Seed Collection*: Collect seeds after pods have ripened, but before they have split open. The seeds are wind dispersed, so be careful when gathering to place in a paper or burlap bag to avoid losing them. 

###### 

Seeds can be directly sewn into the ground in the fall. The seed is very
viable. Planting seed the first fall after collecting seeds maximizes
revegetation success. It is not certain how long you can store the
seeds. Cold treatment for three months improves seed germination in some
milkweed species from higher elevations or colder climates (where it
freezes in the winter).

Revegetation successes with milkweeds seem to be improved by planting
seeds directly in the ground. High mortality seems to occur with plants
in pots and *Asclepias* species don\'t over-winter well in pots. Once
young plants are potted, they often don\'t re-emerge in the spring.
Milkweed plants naturally die back in winter, but will re-sprout during
the next growing season. However, those planted in pots will not
resprout.

*Whole Plant Collections*: For milkweed species with rhizomes,
propagation by cuttings of the tuberous rhizome is also easy and
reliable. The cuttings should be made when the plant is dormant. Each
piece of the rhizome should have at least one bud (they are about two
inches apart). Timing of propagation is important. Harvest or divide
plants and move them in October at the beginning of the rainy season.
Get the plants in the ground by late fall so they can develop enough
root growth to survive the winter. Irrigation the first year will
improve survival, and by the second year the root system should be well
enough established so plants will survive on their own.

Both seedlings and cuttings will usually bloom in their second year,
although cuttings will occasionally bloom during their first year
(Kindscher 1992).

#### Management

## When used for fiber, milkweed is collected in the autumn after the leaves have begun to senesce or dry up. Plants grow in places that have been disturbed such as road grading and construction sites, logging landing fills, etc. Pete Bunting (per comm 2-9-1999) says, \"In the fall when the milkweed has dried I check to see if they will break off at the ground line. The plants are usually a yellow tan to gray depending on how long they have dried. I like the gray for softer string but the fibers are shorter. The tan stalks have longer fibers but are also stiff and hard to work but very long. I break off as many of the plants as I can gather as they are going to re-sprout in the spring. I try and let them dry some more. Then I process them. I have used plants that have over-wintered under snow and they were fine but had soft, short fiber. After 2 winters they are usually no good but you have another year\'s stalks to pick by then.\" The dried stalks are then split open and the fibers are twisted into string.

Vast quantities of fiber plants are required for the making of nets,
regalia, and cordage by California Indians. Blackburn and Anderson
(1993) quote Craig Bates of the Yosemite Museum that it takes
approximately five stalks of milkweed or Indian hemp to manufacture one
foot of cordage. A Sierra Miwok feather skirt or cape contain about 100
feet of cordage made from approximately 500 plant stalks, while a deer
net 40 feet in length (Barrett and Gifford 1933:178) contained some
7,000 feet of cordage, which would have required the harvesting of a
staggering 35,000 plant stalks.

Both milkweed and dogbane were burned in the fall by California Indian
tribes to eliminate dead stalks and stimulate new growth. Burning causes
new growth to have taller, straighter stems (with longer fibers). It
also stimulates flower and seed production.

#### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Seeds and plants of selected *Asclepias* cultivars are available from
many nurseries. It is best to plant species from your local area,
adapted to the specific site conditions where the plants are to be
grown.

#### References

Balls, E.K. 1962. *Early uses of California plants*. University of
California Press. 102 pp.

Blackburn, T.C. & K. Anderson 1993. *Before the wilderness:
Environmental management by Native Californians*. A Ballena Press
Publication. 476 pp.

Bouton, D.W. 1995. *The Monarch butterfly: A fragile tissue in the
wind*. Continuum Publishers, Harpersville, New York.

Bunting, P. Pers comm 2-8-1999. Forester and member of the Sierra Native
American Tribal Council.

Cooke, S.S. 1997. *A field guide to the common wetland plants of western
Washington and northwestern Oregon*. Seattle Audubon Society and
Washington Native Plant Society. 414 pp.

Dunmire, W.W. & G.D. Tierney 1995. *Wild plants of the Pueblo province*.
*Exploring ancient and enduring uses*. Museum of Mexico Press, Santa Fe,
New Mexico. 289 pp.

Dunmire, W.W. & G.D. Tierney 1997. *Wild plants and native peoples of
the Four Corners*. Museum of New Mexico Press. 312 pp.

Gilmore, M.R. 1977. *Uses of plants by the Indians of the Missouri River
region*. University of Nebraska Press. 125 pp.

Grace, E.S. 1997*. The world of the Monarch butterfly*. Sierra Club
Books, San Francisco, California. 114 pp.

Gunther, E. 1945 rev. 1973. *Ethnobotany of western Washington*.
University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, 10(1). University
of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington.

Hedrick, U.P. 1972. *Sturtevant\'s edible plants of the world*. Dover
Publications, Inc., New York, New York. 686 pp.

Hickman, J.C. (ed.) 1993. *The Jepson manual. Higher plants of
California*. University of California Press. 1399 pp.

Kindscher, K. 1992. *Medicinal wild plants of the prairie*. An
Ethnobotanical Guide. University Press of Kansas. 340 pp.

Kuhnlein, H.V. & N.J. Turner 1991. *Traditional plant foods of Canadian
indigenous peoples*. Nutrition, Botany and Use. Gordon and Breach
Science Publishers. 633 pp.

Martin, A.C., H.S. Zim, & A.L. Nelson 1951. *American wildlife and
plants: A guide to wildlife food habits*. Dover Publications, Inc., New
York, New York. 500 pp.

Mason, H.L. 1957. *A flora of the marshes of California*. University of
California Press. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. 878 pp.

Moser, C.L. 1993. *Native American basketry of Southern California*.
Riverside Museum Press. 155 pp.

Powell, J.A. & C.L. Hogue 1979. *California insects*. University of
California Press. 388 pp.

Schmidt, Marjorie G. 1980. *Growing California native plants*.
University of California Press. 366 pp.

Stewart, B. 1997. *Common butterflies of California*. West Coast Lady
Press. 255 pp.

USDA, NRCS 1999. *The PLANTS database*. National Plant Data Center,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. \<http://plants.usda.gov\>. Version: 990412.

#### Prepared By

*Michelle Stevens*

Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

#### Species Coordinator

*M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Plant Science Department, University of California, Davis,
California

Edited: 05dec00 jsp; 17mar03 ahv; 30may06jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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