Asclepias speciosa / Showy milkweed

Asclepias speciosa Torr.

Synonyms: = A. curvipes, A. douglasii, A. giffordii

Common name: Showy milkweed

Apache: tłoibee – “milk plant” (Castetter and Opler 1936:61)

Northern Cheyenne: matanaá-voʔėstse – “mile plant” / matanaá-maxėstse – “milk wood” (Hart 1981:14)

Flathead: senelshqew (Hart 1979:274)

Hopi: coya – “planting stick (referring to straight stem)” (Fewkes 1896:18)

Lakota: waxča xča – “flower blossom” (Munson 1981:232)

Navajo: tc’eel’apé’tshoh – “plant, milk, big” (Elmore 1944:69)

Location in Texas: N TX (panhandle).

Form: herb, perennial.

Flowers: May-Sept (pink, green, purple).

Food

Flowers – boiled for food by the Crow (Blankinship 1905) and Lakota (Munson 1981:232). Eaten boiled with grain meal, as a soup thickener, or as a sort of preserves (Munson 1981:232). The young, unopened flower buds were boiled and eaten by the northern Cheyenne, often with meat, grease, gravy, or soup (Hart 1981:14). The liquid from the boiled buds was thickened with flour and flavored with scrapings from the inside of deer or bison hides (Hart 1981:14). The flower buds were boiled by the Kiowa to eat, and dried for winter storage (Vestal and Schultes 1939).

Fruits – the green immature fruits were peeled and the layer between the skin and seedy part was eaten raw by the northern Cheyenne (Hart 1981:14). The young fruits were boiled by the Kiowa to eat, and dried for winter storage (Vestal and Schultes 1939).

Foliage – leaves and young shoots were boiled with meat by the Hopi (Fewkes 1896:18). The tender young stalks were eaten raw or boiled by the northern Cheyenne (Hart 1981:14). The young sprouts were boiled by the Kiowa to eat, and dried for winter storage (Vestal and Schultes 1939).

Seeds – raw seeds in the young, immature follicles were eaten by Crow Indians (Blankinship 1905).

Sap – used as chewing gum by the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache (Castetter and Opler 1936:45), Flathead (Hart 1979:274), and northern Cheyenne (Hart 1981:14). The sap was squeezed from the leaves and stems onto a heavy black clay and the mixture was chewed (Castetter and Opler 1936:45).

Gathering Season – foliage: spring (Hart 1981:14).

Medicine

Roots – eaten fresh or dried, pulverized, and an infusion drunk for stomachache by the Flathead (Hart 1979:274).

Material

Stems (fiber) – were gathered by the Northern Maidu in the fall when thoroughly dry and were crushed and rolled between the hands until the woody stem was separated from the long outer fibers (Dixon 1905). These fibers were rolled on the thigh into a two-strand twine (Dixon 1905). These smaller cords were sometimes combined to make stronger cords (Dixon 1905). These cords, having great strength and durability were used to make nets (Dixon 1905). The fibers were used for (two-ply) string by the Kashaya Pomo (Goodrich et al. 1980). Also shredded to make a woman’s skirt (Goodrich et al. 1980).

Gathering Season – stems for fiber: summer (Goodrich et al. 1980), fall (Dixon 1905).