My wife's grandfather, born in 1898, was one of the most interesting men I'll ever know. He was of native American descent, and seemed to know everything about the woodlands, the animals which thrived there, and the native plants that grew in abundance on his property. Among the plants one stands out in my memory; the milkweed! He used the white, sticky sap from a broken leaf node as a medication for corns and calluses on his feet.
Now, I don't know if this ever worked or not, but I do know many of the remedies, recipes and ideas he passed on to us are still used by some. For us our favorite is sassafras tea made from the roots of said tree. "Grandpa", as we called him, was almost like a walking encyclopedia about things from his native American heritage. Sadly he passed away in 1986 leaving us with some pretty great lessons about the natural world of plants. This is a photo of the milkweed he loved. I'm sure we can learn much more about this wonderful plant, and the other cultivars in the genus.
