Lakota name: Waĥpẻ tiŋpsila
Listen to Lakota Plant Name: waĥpé tiŋ'psila
Scientific name: Asclepias verticillata
Common name: Whorled milkweed
Lakota medicinal uses: Lakota mothers use it when they don't have milk.
Toxicity: Very poisonous to livestock but is unpalatable and rarely consumed. It can cause problems when fed in hay.
Secondary compounds: The plant produces substances called cardenolides. A study says that the more cardenolides that you have in the trichomes (the hairs on the leaf) the better chance you have of reducing attacks by aphids, Aphis nerii.
![Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window](/tree/img/magnify.gif)
![](/tree/ToLimages/jake2c1.200a.jpg)
Molecular structure of a cardenolide © 1sagebrush24
Description: Whorled milkweed is a single or sparingly stemmed un-branched perennial, commonly over 2 feet tall. The narrow linear leaves are whorled along the stem. Small greenish-white flowers occur in flat-topped clusters on the upper part of the stem. Leaf base clasping the stem, strictly glabrous, sessile, ovate blades. Flowers have corolla lobes 4-5 mm long with a greenish-white color.
![Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window](/tree/img/magnify.gif)
![](/tree/ToLimages/asve_002_lvp.250a.jpg)
![](/tree/ToLimages/asclepias_verticillata21180.250a.jpg)
Asclepias verticillata. Left: leaves and flowers © . Right: close-up of flowers © Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, United States.
Similar species: Carolina milkweed, Mexican milkweed
Flowering period: June to September
Distribution: It is located in all states except: Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Habitat: Prairies, pastures, open woods, roadsides, and railroads.