butterfly weed

[buht-er-flahy weed]

noun

1. Also called orange milkweed. a North American milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, having clusters of bright orange flowers.

2. an erect North American plant, Gaura coccinea, of the evening primrose family, having wandlike spikes of white to pink flowers turning red with age.

butterfly weed

noun

1. Also called: orange milkweed.  pleurisy root. a North American asclepiadaceous plant, Asclepias tuberosa (or A. decumbens ), having flat-topped clusters of bright orange flowers

Word History and Origins

Origin of butterfly weed¹

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

Example Sentences

The treed “Woodland Garden” to the west, with black tupelo and swamp white oaks, gives way to a “Perennial Meadow,” whose asters, purple beebalms and orange butterfly weed were chosen for their chromatic effect.

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Mark the location of perennials like butterfly weed and hardy hibiscus that emerge later than most plants in spring.

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“The butterflies have always been here,” she said as she watches a monarch circle the flaming orange blossoms of a type of milkweed called, appropriately, butterfly weed.

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She placed the monarch caterpillar and the butterfly weed it was attached to inside the cage to protect it from red wasps.

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Never count spring snow out…fingers crossed for the butterfly weed I planted!

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