showy milkweed
Asclepias giffordii Eastw.
Traditional Food Use
Inner layer of fruit used for food. Green, immature fruits peeled and inner layer eaten.
Flowers boiled with soup or meat, flour added and eaten as gravy.
Whole buds boiled with meat or in water, soup, grease, or gravy and used for food
Tender, spring shoots eaten raw. Before flowering the stalk are boiled and consumed. It is said the taste is similar to asparagus.
Tender stalks cooked, sweetened and used for food
Dried, hardened milk used for chewing gum
Pods are eaten raw when they are first formed Additional commentary: The pods are referred to “owl spoons.”
Medicinal Documentation
Decoction of plant tops is strained and used as an eyewash for blindness or snow blindness Additional commentary: It is reported that by boiling and straining the top part of the plant, an eyewash is prepared. This is applied to the eyes with a clean cloth, perhaps, supposed Hart, for snow blindness or general blindness.141
Ceremonial & Cultural Notes
The Sun dance ceremony begins only upon the plant’s flowering. The plant is harvested, cooked, and used as a food offering in the Medicine Lodge.
Artifacts/Material use: The pods, once fully formed, are used as toys for boys Additional commentary: The pods are referred to “owl spoons.”
Botanical Reference
Parts Documented: root, whole plant, dried, flowers, hardened_milk, immature_fruit, plant, plant_tops, pods, shoots, stalks, whole_buds
Distribution: Open, often moist, loamy sites; plains to montane; Alberta, Canada to New Mexico