milkweed

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milk·weed

(mĭlk′wēd′)

Any of various plants of the genus Asclepias, having milky juice, usually opposite leaves, variously colored flowers grouped in umbels, and pods that split open to release seeds with downy tufts.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

milkweed

(ˈmɪlkˌwiːd)

1. (Plants) Also called: silkweed any plant of the mostly North American genus Asclepias, having milky sap and pointed pods that split open to release tufted seeds: family Asclepiadaceae. See also asclepias

2. (Plants) any of various other plants having milky sap

3. (Plants) orange milkweed another name for butterfly weed

4. (Animals) another name for monarch³

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

milk•weed

(ˈmɪlkˌwid)

n.

1. any of several plants of the genus Asclepias, characterized by a milky juice, clusters of white-to-purple flowers, and pods filled with silky tufted seeds.

2. any of various other plants having a milky juice, as certain spurges.

[1590–1600]

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Noun	1.	milkweed - any of numerous plants of the genus Asclepias having milky juice and pods that split open releasing seeds with downy tufts silkweed herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests Asclepias, genus Asclepias - genus of chiefly North American perennial herbs: silkweed; milkweed Asclepias albicans, white milkweed - tall herb with leafless white waxy stems and whitish starlike flowers; southwestern United States Asclepias curassavica, blood flower, swallowwort - tropical herb having orange-red flowers followed by pods suggesting a swallow with outspread wings; a weed throughout the tropics Asclepias exaltata, poke milkweed - milkweed of the eastern United States with leaves resembling those of pokeweed Asclepias incarnata, swamp milkweed - densely branching perennial of the eastern United States with white to crimson or purple flowers Asclepia meadii, Asclepias meadii, Mead's milkweed - milkweed of central North America; a threatened species Asclepias purpurascens, purple silkweed - perennial of eastern North America having pink-purple flowers Asclepias speciosa, showy milkweed - milkweed of southern North America having large starry purple and pink flowers Asclepias subverticillata, horsetail milkweed, poison milkweed - milkweed of southwestern United States and Mexico; poisonous to livestock Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly weed, chigger flower, chiggerflower, Indian paintbrush, orange milkweed, pleurisy root, tuber root - erect perennial of eastern and southern United States having showy orange flowers Asclepias verticillata, whorled milkweed - milkweed of the eastern United States with narrow leaves in whorls and greenish-white flowers
	2.	milkweed - annual Eurasian sow thistle with soft spiny leaves and rayed yellow flower heads Sonchus oleraceus milk thistle, sow thistle - any of several Old World coarse prickly-leaved shrubs and subshrubs having milky juice and yellow flowers; widely naturalized; often noxious weeds in cultivated soil

Translations

milkweed

[ˈmɪlkwiːd] N → algodoncillo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

References in classic literature ?

Huckleberry, Milkweed, and Dandelion were attacked with the whooping cough, but bore it bravely, and kept out of doors whenever the sun shone.

I wish there were any likelihood of my soon seeing Primrose, Periwinkle, Dandelion, Sweet Fern, Clover Plantain, Huckleberry, Milkweed, Cowslip, Buttercup, Blue Eye, and Squash Blossom again.

View in context

Across the wire fence, in the long grass, I saw a clump of flaming orange-coloured milkweed, rare in that part of the state.

View in context

On a silvery mushroom was spread the breakfast; little cakes of flower-dust lay on a broad green leaf, beside a crimson strawberry, which, with sugar from the violet, and cream from the yellow milkweed, made a fairy meal, and their drink was the dew from the flowers' bright leaves.

View in context

As I was paddling along the north shore one very calm October afternoon, for such days especially they settle on to the lakes, like the milkweed down, having looked in vain over the pond for a loon, suddenly one, sailing out from the shore toward the middle a few rods in front of me, set up his wild laugh and betrayed himself.

View in context

Now, an unexpected finding by Charles Suh and colleagues at the Agricultural Research Service's Areawide Pest Management Research Unit in College Station, Texas, could help save milkweed habitat and preserve one of North America's most admired insects.

Trapping weevils and saving monarchs

When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars feed on the milkweed leaves.

Monarchs deposed

Milkweed is popularly known as a favorite food of the monarch butterfly caterpillar.

Milkweed: from floss to fun in the sun

Milkweed is a valuable plant that is easy to grow in dry and arid climates, requires minimum water, and can be harvested for floss twice every year (1), (2).

Extraction and characterization of natural cellulose fibers from common milkweed stems

"Milkweed" is the story of Cassandra Leahy, a young woman with her life in front of her.

Milkweed: A Novel

Matthew Eck; THE FARTHER SHORE; Milkweed (Special Note) $0.00 ISBN: 9781571310576

The Farther Shore

CITE

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