milkweed

[milk-weed]

noun

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.

milkweed

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of milkweed¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; milk + weed ¹

Example Sentences

Also, monarch butterflies flit among the tall stands of narrow leaf milkweed, the plant their caterpillars require to survive.

From Los Angeles Times

Scott is working with the Monarch Fellowship, a volunteer-driven initiative to plant pollinator flowers, to offer wildflower seeds in the fall and narrowleaf milkweed seeds and plants in the spring.

From Los Angeles Times

The one exception is a pot of orange-flowered tropical milkweed, a non-native variety they keep for sentimental reasons because it reminds them of how they met when they both were single living in Santa Monica.

From Los Angeles Times

Then, coastal sage, buckwheat, wild grape, wildflowers, milkweed and other native plants will be planted on the roughly one-acre habitat.

From Los Angeles Times

Testing by the Xerces Society and the University of Nevada-Reno found that milkweed leaves, the main food source for the monarch caterpillar, were contaminated by 64 pesticides.

From Los Angeles Times