The Purple Milkweed

The Purple Milkweed. It sounds like a badly filmed horror movie in which pod people emerge and, in the guise of cabbage patch dolls, slowly take over the world. If anything, it doesn’t sound all that beautiful.

In reality, it’s a very pretty plant from the Sierra Nevada meadows. Also known as asclepias cordifolia or heart-leaf milkweed, it blooms in early July. Native to western California, the plant is known to thrive in California, Oregon, and Nevada. The milkweed prefers to grow at an elevation of 50 to 2,000 meters in local mountain ranges, such as the Cascade and Sierra Mountains. It particularly thrives on rocky slopes, mixed coniferous forest, and shady woodlands.

Purple milkweed, a perennial plant, features dark red-purple flowers the color of wine with hoods that extend beyond the center corolla. Heart-shaped leaves cover the plant, while five stamens joined in a central column give it a unique appearance. The flower produces a fruit follicle that is filled with tiny flat seeds. These seeds fly swiftly in the wind with their silky hairs, making pollination and wild cultivation very simple.

The milkweed itself isn’t a milk or weed, or a pod person birthing chamber for that matter. It’s simply a sap that has a very milky appearance that is released from the plant’s stem.

Monarch butterflies enjoy purple milkweed as a food and nectar source. Even the caterpillars consume the leaves; in fact, this consumption helps protect the caterpillars from predators due to the presence of alkaloids within the leaves that make their bodies unappetizing. Once the caterpillar is an adult butterfly, the alkaloids stay within his system, keeping him protected and inedible throughout his lifetime. In the areas where the plant is considered a native specimen, it can make a welcomed addition for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds within a garden. Wherever a purple milkweed can be spotted, a monarch butterfly or caterpillar is sure to be near, if not on, the plant.

Native Americans used the milkweed for its stems. They would cut and dry the stems until they could be processed to form various lengths of rope and string. Sometimes they simply collected already dried-out milkweed during the fall for this use. The resulting cords were created entirely by hand, combined with willow to make the strongest material possible. The cords were then used to make tribal capes, skirts, and other products. A single piece of clothing would often require 500 plant stalks or more.