butterfly weed
Americannoun
-
Also called orange milkweed. a North American milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, having clusters of bright orange flowers.
-
an erect North American plant, Gaura coccinea, of the evening primrose family, having wandlike spikes of white to pink flowers turning red with age.
noun
Etymology
Origin of butterfly weed
An Americanism dating back to 1810–20
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 24, 2025
Mark the location of perennials like butterfly weed and hardy hibiscus that emerge later than most plants in spring.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 1, 2024
“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.
From National Geographic • Dec. 14, 2023
She placed the monarch caterpillar and the butterfly weed it was attached to inside the cage to protect it from red wasps.
From New York Times • Oct. 25, 2023
Hepatica, columbines, anenome, bellflower, butterfly weed, turtle head and aster represent wild flowers which bloom from March through October.
From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Shaw, Ellen Eddy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
