Milkweed

Family Kutrovye. Name: after the name of the god of healing Asclepius or Aesculapius (Greek - Asclepios, Latin - Aesculapus), for the medicinal properties of its species.

Description: about 80 species are known, distributed in North and South America, Africa.

Milkweed are vigorous herbaceous plants up to 100 cm tall, with thick, horizontal rhizomes that extend far to the sides. Stems are thick, leaves large, arranged oppositely or in whorls, less often alternately, oblong, ovate or elliptic. Relatively large red or brown flowers are gathered in many-flowered umbels. They bloom in the summer or autumn months. Fruits are bristly.

Of the species of lastovney and milkweeds known to botanists, only a few are cultivated as garden plants. The plant tissues exude a poisonous milky sap capable of causing skin irritation, especially with simultaneous exposure to sunlight. Milkweeds are good nectar plants, and are readily visited by bees and butterflies. Not all members of this genus are hardy to winter frosts.