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Milk Weed was once cultivated in Europe for bee fodder and fiber. Two types of fiber are obtainable, the long, quite strong but brittle bast fiber and the seed hairs. Pulp from the fiber yields a good paper. During World War II, the seed hairs, being rather springy, light and waterproof, were used to replace kapok in life jackets. Milkweed is a folk remedy for asthma, bronchitis, catarrh, cough, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, fever, gallstones, gonorrhea, moles, pleurisy, pneumonia, rheumatism, ringworm, scrofula, sores, ulcers, warts, and wounds. Cherokee used the plant for backache, dropsy, gravel, mastitis, venereal diseases, and warts.
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