MILKWEED

milkweed, Sonchus oleraceus

(noun) annual Eurasian sow thistle with soft spiny leaves and rayed yellow flower heads

milkweed, silkweed

(noun) any of numerous plants of the genus Asclepias having milky juice and pods that split open releasing seeds with downy tufts

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

milkweed (plural milkweeds)

Any of several plants that have a milky sap and have pods that split to release seeds with silky tufts.

Principally of the genus Asclepias in order Gentianales, family Apocynaceae

Also of the genus Calotropis in order Gentianales, family Apocynaceae

Euphorbia peplus and Euphorbia heterophylla, in order Malpighiales.

A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp).

Synonyms

• silkweed

Hyponyms

• (plants in genus Asclepias): common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), clasping milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis), butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), fourleaf milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia), green comet milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata), purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens), red milkweed (Asclepias rubra), redring milkweed (Asclepias variegata), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

Source: Wiktionary

Milk"weed`, n. (Bot.)

Definition: Any plant of the genera Asclepias and Acerates, abounding in a milky juice, and having its seed attached to a long silky down; silkweed. The name is also applied to several other plants with a milky juice, as to several kinds of spurge.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition