As*cle"pi*as, n. [L., fr. Gr. , named from Asclepios or Aesculapius.] Bot.
A genus of plants including the milkweed, swallowwort, and some other species having medicinal properties.
Asclepias butterfly Zool., a large, handsome, red and black butterfly (Danais Archippus), found in both hemispheres. It feeds on plants of the genus Asclepias.
© Webster 1913.