Asclepias incarnata

Asclepias incarnata, the swamp milkweed, rose milkweed, rose milkflower, swamp silkweed, or white Indian hemp, is a herbaceous perennial plant species native to North America. It grows in damp through wet soils and also is cultivated as a garden plant for its flowers, which attract butterflies and other pollinators with nectar. Like most other milkweeds, it has latex containing toxic steroids, a characteristic that repels many species of insects and mammals.

Description

A shrub. It grows about 1 m high. It spreads about 60 cm wide. It produces stout stems. The leaves are narrow and sword shaped on thick stems. The flowers are rosy pink. The fruit are erect, pointed seed heads.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers Leaves Oil Seedpod Shoots Edible Uses: Oil Sweetener Unopened flower buds - cooked. Tasting somewhat like peas. They can also be dried and stored for later use. Young shoots - cooked. An asparagus substitute. Tips of older shoots are cooked like spinach. Young seed pods, harvested when 3 - 4 cm long - cooked. A pea-like flavour, they are very appetizing. The flower clusters can be boiled down to make a sugary syrup.

Traditional Uses

CAUTION: It contains a glucoside asclepiadin. It is poisonous. The unopened flower buds are used as a favouring and thickener in soup. The young fruit are boiled and eaten. The flower clusters can be boiled down to make a sugary syrup.

Medicinal Uses

Anthelmintic Carminative Diuretic Emetic Laxative Stomachic A tea made from the roots is anthelmintic, carminative, diuretic, emetic, strongly laxative and stomachic. The tea is said to remove tapeworms from the body in one hour. It has also been used in the treatment of asthma, rheumatism, syphilis, worms and as a heart tonic. An infusion of the roots is used as a strengthening bath for children and adults.

Known Hazards

Although no specific reports have been seen for this species, many, if not all, members of this genus contain toxic resinoids, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides. They are usually avoided by grazing animals. The leaves and the stems might be poisonous.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows well beside water. It needs a sunny position. It suits hardiness zones 3-9.

Where It Grows

Australia, Canada, Europe, France, Germany, Netherlands, North America*, USA,

Cultivation

Experimental Crop Industrial Crop: Hydrocarbon Management: Hay. Prefers a well-drained light rich or peaty soil. Requires a moist soil and a sunny position, doing well by water. Succeeds on dry soils and on all soil types. Plants are hardy to at least -25°c. A very ornamental plant, the flowers are very attractive to butterflies. The flower of many members of this genus can trap insects between its anther cells, the struggles of the insect in escaping ensure the pollination of the plant. Many members of this genus seem to be particularly prone to damage by slugs. The young growth in spring is especially vulnerable, but older growth is also attacked and even well-established plants have been destroyed in wet years. Plants resent root disturbance and are best planted into their final positions whilst small.

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn or in late winter. We have also had good results from sowing the seed in the greenhouse in early spring, though stored seed might need 2 - 3 weeks cold stratification. Germination usually takes place in 1 - 3 months at 18°c. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant out when they are in active growth in late spring or early summer and give them some protection from slugs until they are growing away strongly. Division in spring. With great care since the plant resents root disturbance. Pot the divisions up and place them in a lightly shaded position in the greenhouse until they are growing away strongly, then plant them out in the summer, giving them some protection from slugs until they are established.. Basal cuttings in late spring. Use shoots about 10cm long with as much of their white underground stem as possible. Pot them up individually and place them in a lightly shaded position in a greenhouse until they are rooting and growing actively. If the plants grow sufficiently, they can be put into their permanent positions in the summer, otherwise keep them in the greenhouse until the following spring and when they are in active growth plant them out into their permanent positions. Give them some protection from slugs until they are established.

Other Uses

Fibre Latex Oil Pollution Stuffing Wax A good quality fibre is obtained from the bark. It is used in twine, cloth etc. It is easily harvested in late autumn, after the plants have died down, by simply pulling it off the dead stems. The seed floss is used to stuff pillows etc or is mixed with other fibres to make cloth. It is a Kapok substitute, it is used in Life Jackets or as a stuffing material. It is very water repellent. The floss has also been used to mop up oil spills at sea. Rubber can be made from latex contained in the leaves and stems. Pods contain an oil and a wax which are of potential importance. The dogbane-milkweed family Asclepias, Apocynum, Calotropis, and Trachomitum spp) has been used for fiber industrial crops for millennia with a number in cultivation as regional crops. All of these crops are dual-purpose fibres, offering bast fibres from the stem and seed finer or ‘floss’ in the fruit pods. Many have also been identified as potential hydrocarbon crops due to high latex content. Could be integrated into various agroforestry systems rather than as monocultures [1-1]. Special Uses Attracts Wildlife Carbon Farming Food Forest

Notes

There are 100 Asclepias species.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Algodoncillo, Purple milkweed, Rose milkweed

References (16)

• Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 44
• Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 107
• Brickell, C. (Ed.), 1999, The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. Convent Garden Books. p 144
• Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 1 (A-H) p 263

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