I’m sure most people reading this have heard of milkweed and how it’s good for butterflies at least once. You may have heard about the mass migration of butterflies to Mexico. However, the difference between Butterfly and normal milkweed is that Butterfly milkweed sap does not have the same characteristics as normal milkweed.
Although it may not have the same sap, it does have medicinal qualities. It can help treat swelling from rheumatism and remove intestinal worms and lung inflammation from both pleurisy and asthma. However, it isn’t recommended that you start eating these as they have mild toxic qualities.
The milkweed species as a whole have the compound cardiac glycosides. Cardiac glycosides have varying levels of toxicity. Though they are still used, they have been known to cause severe side effects.
Even with the danger factor, butterfly milkweed is beautiful, with many tiny individual orange flowers. They have a mildly sweet vanilla scent. Butterfly milkweed isn’t the only beautiful milkweed, however.
Common milkweed is the one you usually think of when you think of milkweed, but there are so many more. There are over twenty-four separate species of milkweed, including tropical milkweed, showy milkweed, narrow-leaf milkweed, and pine needle milkweed, to name a few.
Related Stories:
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa L.).
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterflyweed) | Native Plants of North America.
Butterfly-weed and other Milkweeds – Prince William Wildflower Society.
