Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Asclepias hallii

Common name:	Purple Silkweed	Family:	Asclepiadaceae
Author:	A.Gray.	Botanical references:	200, 228
Synonyms:
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[274]. They are usually avoided by grazing animals[274].
Range:	Western N. America - Wyoming to Colorado, south to Nevada and S. Arizona.
Habitat:	Sandy soils of prairies and roadsides[228].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Hall's Milkweed [P,B],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Gentianales. Milkweed family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m by 0.6m . It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen in September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, insects and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers; Gum; Leaves; Seed; Seedpod; Sweetener.

The following uses have been recorded for A. speciosa, it is fairly safe to assume they can also be applied to this closely related species[K].

Flower buds - raw or cooked[61, 92]. Tasting somewhat like peas[85].
Young shoots and leaves - cooked[46, 61, 62, 92, 95]. An asparagus substitute[85, 183]. They should not be eaten raw[85].
Tips of older shoots are cooked like spinach[85, 183].
Young seed pods, 3 - 4 cm long, cooked. Very appetizing[85].
Flower clusters can be boiled down to make a sugary syrup[85] or they can be eaten raw[161, 183].
Seed - raw[161].
A chewing gum can be made from the latex contained in the stem and leaves[46, 61, 92, 183].
Root[183]. No further details.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Contraceptive; Warts.

The following uses have been recorded for A. speciosa, it is fairly safe to assume they can also be applied to this closely related species[K].

The latex is used as a cure for warts[168].
A tea made from the whole plant has been used as a contraceptive after childbirth[213].

Other Uses

Dye; Fibre; Latex; Oil; Paper; Pollution; Stuffing.

The following uses have been recorded for A. speciosa, it is fairly safe to assume they can also be applied to this closely related species[K].

A good quality tough fibre is obtained from the bark[92, 99]. It is used in twine, coarse cloth, paper etc[92, 99]. The fibre is 10 - 45mm long[189]. It is easily harvested in late autumn, after the plants have died down, by simply pulling it off the dead stems[168, 169]. When making paper, the stems can be retted by leaving them in the ground until they are dry in the winter or they can be harvested in late summer, the leaves removed and the stems steamed to remove the fibre[189]. The stems are then cooked for two hours with lye and pounded with mallets[189]. The paper colour varies from white to creamy green depending on how the paper is made[189]. If the stems are used in the summer the latex will often find its way onto the fibres and is hard to remove[189].
The seed floss is used to stuff pillows etc or is mixed with other fibres to make cloth[168, 169]. It is a Kapok substitute, used in Life Jackets or as a stuffing material[169]. 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 the stems[57, 92, 112]. The yield is up to 3%[112].
Pods contain an oil and a wax which are of potential importance.
A green dye is obtained from the flowers and leaves combined[168].

Cultivation details

Prefers a well-drained light rich or peaty soil and a sunny position[1, 134, 200].
This species is closely related to A. purpurascens[200].
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[K].
Plants resent root disturbance and are best planted into their final positions whilst small[134].
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[207].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn or in late winter[134, 169]. We have also had good results from sowing the seed in the greenhouse in early spring[K], though stored seed might need 2 - 3 weeks cold stratification[134]. Germination usually takes place in 1 - 3 months at 18°c[134]. 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.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Asclepiadaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[92] Balls. E. K. Early Uses of Californian Plants. University of California Press 1975 ISBN 0-520-00072-2
A nice readable book.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[99] Turner. N. J. Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. British Columbia Provincial Museum 1979 ISBN 0-7718-8117-7
Excellent and readable guide.

[112] Whiting. A. G. A Summary of the Literature on Milkweeds (Asclepias spp) and their utilization.
A technical paper covering the many uses of the genus Asclepias.

[134] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[169] Buchanan. R. A Weavers Garden.
Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[189] Bell. L. A. Plant Fibres for Papermaking. Liliaceae Press 1988
A good practical section on how to make paper on a small scale plus details of about 75 species (quite a few of them tropical) that can be used.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[228] McGregor. R. L. & Barkley. T. M. Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas. 1986 ISBN 070060295x
A useful source of habitats.

Readers Comments

The Milkweeds

Sheila Chmuhalek (schmuhal@granite.mb.ca) Sat 27 Sept 1997

I found your web site while I was searching for information on milkweed, and the milkweeds page showed up. I am a professor of textiles at the University of Manitoba in Canada. Congratulations on having such an interesting site. I'll be back.

Has your group thought about plants as dyes? I found the page on fibre but was surprised that dyes weren't mentioned. If anyone's interested, Milkweed is a terrific dye source, as well.

Cross references: Genera: Asclepias. Web-pages: The Milkweeds.

The Milkweeds

David Raymond (draymond@cats.ucsc.edu) Wed May 30 00:17:57 2001

I ran across an article on commercial trials of milkweed as a kapok -fluff-producer in the US. I will try to track it down for you. The US military, or agriculture department, initially looked at milkweed as a source for a petroleum substitute in the event of war. As you note, it is not very productive in that respect. So there is now research on the use of the fluff, which is as warm as down but does not mat down when it gets wet. Keep up the good work. David Raymond

Cross references: Genera: Asclepias. Web-pages: The Milkweeds.

Back to: Pathways Home page, Main Search Page Help Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Asclepias+hallii
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Asclepias+hallii

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Log In :: Privacy Policy :: Home :: Philosophy

We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.