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| Linnaeus named this genus (and the tuberosa species) in 1753. Aesculapius, a legendary Greek physician, was the Greek God of Medicine. Members of the genus Asclepias have been used medicinally for millennia and are sometimes used in modern herbal teas. |
| See also Asclepias speciosa and Asclepias asperula. |
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Synonym:
Asclepias
macrosperma. Asclepias involucrata. (Milkweed) Semi-desert.
Sand, canyon washes, shrublands. Spring, summer. The soft green of this lovely plant is made softer by the downy hairs that cover the folded and twisting leaves. Plants sprawl along the ground with flower clusters emerging from the ends of leaf stems. Flowers are a greenish yellow and in the starburst sphere typical of plants in the Milkweed Family. In 1893 Alice Eastwood collected this species in Court House Wash in what is now Arches National Park. She named it "macrosperma" for its large seeds. |
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Synonym:
Asclepias
macrosperma. Asclepias involucrata. (Milkweed) Semi-desert.
Sand, canyon washes, shrublands. Spring, summer. |
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Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly
Weed) Semi-desert.
Canyon washes, roadsides. Spring, summer. Coming down-hill into Elephant Wash I watched expectantly for bright splashes of Butterfly Weed, and I was rewarded. In the sands and stones below me yellow-orange flowers glowed. "Tuberosa" refers to swellings on the roots. |
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Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly
Weed) Semi-desert.
Canyon washes, roadsides. Spring, summer. |
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Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly
Weed) Semi-desert.
Canyon washes, roadsides. Spring, summer. Ripening seed pods. |