Asclepias Cordifolia - Uses

Uses

The Miwok gathered heart-leaf milkweed in the summer and dried it, or collected it in the fall after it was already dry. The dry stems were combed with a loop of willow to draw out the fiber just beneath the very thin outer skin. The fiber was wound into balls for storage and later processing. The making of cordage (rope and string) was done entirely by hand, with no tools. Asclepias was also used by the Native American Yokut or Mariposa in northern and central California for string or rope.

A single Miwok feather skirt or cape was made with approximately 100 feet of cordage, requiring about 500 plant stalks. A 40-foot-long deer net contained about 7,000 feet of cordage, requiring the harvesting of approximately 35,000 plant stalks. The milkweed stalks were burned in the fall to eliminate dead stalks and stimulate the next year's growth, and to stimulate flower and seed production. Cordage was typically two-ply, though there are some examples at the Field Museum of three- and four-ply Miwok cordage.

Heart-leaf milkweed was also used as a contraceptive and snakebite remedy, though without proper preparation it can cause vomiting in low doses and death in higher doses due to a mix of cardenolides in the sap. At one time it was classified as a noxious weed because of reported negative effects on livestock.