Bitterroot Restoration

Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Common name: Swet akando, Chhoto akando(Beng.).
Life cycle: Perennial
Native Range: Native to the Dead Sea and Sodom, Israel and other desert regions.

Calotropis procera is originally from warm parts of Africa and Asia, this is now pantropical and in ecological terms is regarded as an indicator of overgrazed land.There are no doubt many other places in the world where giant milkweed abounds. It common and widespread but it is a magnificent shrub, reaching 10 feet tall, with large silver-green leaves, clusters of waxy purple-tipped flowers, and inflated pale green seed pods. Their pods split open when ripe to release silk-tufted seed to the wind. The latex is poisonous, containing digitalis-like compounds that affect the heart, and is used to make arrow poison.

Medicinally, the acrid sap latex is used to treat boils, infected wounds and other skin problems in people, and to treat parasitic skin infestations in animals.