SILKWEED

 Dictionary entry overview: What does silkweed mean? 

• SILKWEED (noun)
  The noun SILKWEED has 1 sense:

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

  Familiarity information: SILKWEED used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SILKWEED (noun)

Meaning:

Any of numerous plants of the genus Asclepias having milky juice and pods that split open releasing seeds with downy tufts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

milkweed; silkweed

Hypernyms ("silkweed" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "silkweed"):

Asclepias verticillata; whorled milkweed (milkweed of the eastern United States with narrow leaves in whorls and greenish-white flowers)

Asclepias tuberosa; butterfly weed; chigger flower; chiggerflower; Indian paintbrush; orange milkweed; pleurisy root; tuber root (erect perennial of eastern and southern United States having showy orange flowers)

Asclepias subverticillata; horsetail milkweed; poison milkweed (milkweed of southwestern United States and Mexico; poisonous to livestock)

Asclepias speciosa; showy milkweed (milkweed of southern North America having large starry purple and pink flowers)

Asclepias purpurascens; purple silkweed (perennial of eastern North America having pink-purple flowers)

Asclepia meadii; Asclepias meadii; Mead's milkweed (milkweed of central North America; a threatened species)

Asclepias incarnata; swamp milkweed (densely branching perennial of the eastern United States with white to crimson or purple flowers)

Asclepias exaltata; poke milkweed (milkweed of the eastern United States with leaves resembling those of pokeweed)

Asclepias curassavica; blood flower; swallowwort (tropical herb having orange-red flowers followed by pods suggesting a swallow with outspread wings; a weed throughout the tropics)

Asclepias albicans; white milkweed (tall herb with leafless white waxy stems and whitish starlike flowers; southwestern United States)

Holonyms ("silkweed" is a member of...):

Asclepias; genus Asclepias (genus of chiefly North American perennial herbs: silkweed; milkweed)