əˈsklēpēəs, aˈ- noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, swallowwort ( Cynanchum vincetoxicum ), from Greek asklēpias, from Asklēpios, physician-hero of Greek myth sometimes worshiped as god of healing
1. capitalized : a genus (the type of the family Asclepiadaceae) of perennial herbs found chiefly in No. America with flowers having a corona of five concave hoods each of which bears a slender horn — see butterfly weed , milkweed
2. -es : a plant of the genus Asclepias
3. -es
a. : the dried root of the butterfly weed formerly used as a diaphoretic and expectorant — called also pleurisy root
b. : the root of the swamp milkweed used similarly