Milkweed

Description

Milkweed grows from 2 to 5 feet tall. It is usually found in big patches. Milkweed is a forb and it is perennial, it is also native to America. It flowers from May until August. The leaves look like they are oblong and the tips are rounded and are about 2-14 mm long and are light to a drak green color ost of the time. The flowers are kind of light to a purplish pink color some times. It grows through fibrous shallows.

Uses

The Native Americans used this plant as a drug to cure some of the common colds. The Menominee people ate the buds from a decoction of the root which was used for chest pains. The Ojibwa people used the root as a female remedy for unspecified ailment. The Chippewa used it as food, for an appetizer, they ate it before the main meal to increase the appetite. Another drug called the "Rappahannock Drug"; it is made from the milk of a fresh plant to treat warts and the ringworm. The Omaha used Milkweed as a vegetable; they boiled young sprouts, floral bud clusters and young firm green fruits for their food. The Pawnee people also used Milkweed the same way the Omaha's did, the Menominee people used the fibers of the plant called Cordage to make hunting equipment such as bowstrings and fishing items. Winnebago's used the fibers as toys, they were chewed and used for popgun wadding by little boys.
    The Omaha's used this plant to make soup. Here is the recipe for the soup:

        First clean the milkweeds and then cut up in small pieces.

        Second, cut up slices of bacon and put both in pot and boil for about 2 hours.

        Third, to make thickening , mix a 1/2 cup of flour and 1 cup of water and pour it             right in with the milkweeds and bacon when it is almost done boiling.

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