milkweed

American  

[milk-weed] / ˈmɪlkˌwid /

noun

• milkweeds
  plural

1. any of several plants that secrete a milky juice or latex, especially those of the genus Asclepias, as A. syriaca.

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

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milkweed British  

/ ˈmɪlkˌwiːd /

noun

1. 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. any of various other plants having milky sap

3. another name for butterfly weed

4. another name for monarch

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• milkweeds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of milkweed

First recorded in 1590–1600; milk + weed ¹

Compare meaning

How does milkweed compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• dogbane vs. milkweed

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

milkweed milkweeds

Ms. Williams delights in the paradoxes of butterfly evolution, including monarch caterpillars’ calibrated resistance to milkweed toxins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

They did so because they recognized that strict prohibitions could backfire, leading landowners to destroy milkweed, a plant that monarchs need to survive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

Monarchs depend on everyday people—farmers, gardeners and city planners—planting milkweed and protecting pollinator spaces, so their recovery depends on cooperation, not coercion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

One of these pesticides, methoxyfenozide, was found in 96% of milkweed samples, but it is allowed to be used under current pesticide regulations because it is not toxic to bees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025

Living in Faerie, it’s impossible not to notice that everyone else smells like verbena or crushed pine needles, dried blood or milkweed.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

“Planting milkweeds in your garden is great,” she says.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 14, 2023

“The hungry throng” that Lee-Mäder enumerates includes at least 40 insect species that “feed often or exclusively on North American milkweeds in the summer,” he writes.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2023

Goldfarb cites the example of milkweeds, the exclusive feeding plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2023

There are other native milkweeds, but they are typically harder to find.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2023

A careful search among almost any good-sized cluster of milkweeds will show us many such prisoners.

From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson