milkweed

/'milkwi:d/

Thân thiện

A monarch butterfly lands on a milkweed plant in the garden.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A plant with milky sap: "milkweed" refers to any of numerous plants, especially of the genus Asclepias, that have a milky juice or latex.
   • A specific Eurasian plant: It can also refer to an annual Eurasian sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) with spiny leaves and yellow flowers.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • Monarch butterflies rely on milkweed as their sole host plant.
  • The field was dotted with the pink blossoms of common milkweed.

Advanced Usage

• "Milkweed down": Refers to the silky, hair-like filaments attached to the seeds of milkweed plants, which aid in wind dispersal.
  • Children love to blow on the milkweed down and watch it float away.

Variants and Related Words

• Butterfly weed (): A type of milkweed with bright orange flowers.
• Swamp milkweed (): A milkweed species that thrives in wet conditions.
• Milkweed family (): The botanical family to which most milkweeds belong.

Synonyms

• Silkweed: An older, less common name for milkweed, referring to the silky seed tufts.
• Asclepias: The scientific genus name for most plants commonly called milkweed.

Related Phrases

• Milkweed pod: The seed-containing fruit of the milkweed plant.
  • In autumn, the dry milkweed pods split open to release their seeds.

Related Idioms

Học thuật

Noun

1. annual Eurasian sow thistle with soft spiny leaves and rayed yellow flower heads
2. any of numerous plants of the genus Asclepias having milky juice and pods that split open releasing seeds with downy tufts

Từ đồng nghĩa

• Sonchus oleraceus
• silkweed