Asclepias

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Asclepias \As*cle"pi*as\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, named from
     Asclepios or Aesculapius.] (Bot.)
     A genus of plants including the milkweed, swallowwort, and
     some other species having medicinal properties.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     {Asclepias butterfly} (Zool.), a large, handsome, red and
        black butterfly ({Danais Archippus}), found in both
        hemispheres. It feeds on plants of the genus Asclepias.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Asclepias
       n : genus of chiefly North American perennial herbs: silkweed;
           milkweed [syn: {genus Asclepias}]