Asclepias tuberosa, commonly known as Butterfly Milkweed, is a native perennial plant with a deep root system. Milkweed seeds have a tuft of long silky hairs attached to one end, which is the seed dispersal mechanism. People of the First Nations boiled and ate the plant as pot herbs. They also considered Butterfly Milkweed an important medicine; they chewed it and placed it on wounds and bruises and used it to induce vomiting. Butterfly milkweed was once considered a cure for pleurisy.
