BUTTERFLY WEED or PLEURISY ROOT
Asclepias tuberosa

Location
In the pharmaceutical garden next to the Basic Science Building.

Description
Butterfly weed or pleurisy root has a hairy stem, umbels of showy, orange flowers, and alternate, lance-shaped or narrow leaves, about two to five inches long.  It stands one to two feet high during the summer (Newcomb 1997).

History
Butterfly weed is indigenous to the United States.  American Indians once used this herb in cooking and in medicine for treating respiratory problems (Le Strange 1977). Butterfly weed is known as pleurisy root because it was used for “mitigating the pain and for relieving the difficulty of the breathing” in pleurisy, asthma, and bronchitis (Foster & Duke 1990; Le Strange 1977). It was once official in the United States Pharmacopoeia (Grieve 1998). Besides lung problems, the root was used for acute rheumatism (Foster & Duke 1990; Grieve 1998; Le Strange 1977), fevers and dysentery (Grieve 1998; Le Strange 1977).

It was also used as an emetic, laxative (in large doses) diuretic, and anodyne (painkiller) (Foster & Duke 1990; Grieve 1998).  The root poultice has been used for bruises, swellings, and lameness (Foster & Duke 1990).  Other historical uses of butterfly weed were as an expectorant, cathartic, or tonic, and for treating stomach problems, syphilis, worms, and obstinate sores.

Southern Indians used butterfly weed for dysentery, dropsy (an obsolete term for edema, or swelling), asthma, and as an emetic. The Penobscot Indians used it as a cold remedy (Kiple 2000).  The Omahas placed chewed roots on wounds and sores (Lewis & Elvin-Lewis 1977).  A member of the Shell society was designated as the keeper of this medicine, with the duty to harvest roots for distribution to others in the community.  The ceremonies associated with the preparation, consecration and distribution of the herb took up to four days (Erichsen-Brown 1979).

The Menomini pulverized the root and have used it for cuts, wounds and bruises (Erichsen-Brown 1979; Lewis & Elvin-Lewis 1977).  The Meskwaki did not use the herb medicinally, but used the herb in soups and as a permanent red dye (Erichsen-Brown 1979).

Native Americans used the roots, orange flowers, shoots, and leaves of butterfly weed (usually baked) for food (Kiple 2000). 

Current Medicinal Uses
Butterfly weed is not commonly used in herbal medicine today (see Adverse Effects)

Adverse Effects
Butterfly weed contains a cardiac glycoside and should not be ingested. There have been cases of horses, cattle, and sheep being poisoned by ingesting butterfly weed (Evans 1996).

References
Erichsen-Brown C. Medicinal and Other Uses of North American Plants: A Historical Survey with Special Reference to the Eastern Indian Tribes. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1979 (pp. 434-436)

Evans WC. Trease and Evans Pharmacognosy, 14^th Ed. WB Saunders Company Ltd, London, 1996.

Foster S, Duke JA. Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1990. (p. 136)

Grieve M. A Modern Herbal. Tiger Books International, London, 1998 (first published in 1931 by Jonathan Cape Ltd):647.

Kiple KF, Ornelas KC, ed. The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. (p. 1740)

Le Strange, R. A History of Herbal Plants. Arco Publishing Company, Inc., New York, 1977. (pp. 45-46)

Lewis WH , Elvin-Lewis MPF. Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Man’s Health. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1977. (p. 341)

Newcomb L. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1977. (p. 188)