Asclepias. Asclepias incarnata . a. Habit, b. Basal part of plant showing roots, c. Flower. Drawn by Vivian Frazier. From Correll and Correll 1972. Asclepias tuberosa . From Britton and Brown 1898. Asclepias viridiflora . From Britton and Brown 1898. Asclepias viridis . From Britton and Brown 1898.

According to Greek legend, the renowned physician and deity Asklepios or Aesculapius was the son of Apollo. He was born in a forested area of Pelion (Pilion) in Thessaly and grew up there under the watchful eye of the wise centaur Chiron who taught him the art of medicine. He thus learned about the properties and uses of herbs, and became a healer. At the summit of his art he tried to extend the limits of human existence and to restore the dead to life. This made Hades angry and afraid that Asklepios would depopulate his kingdom of the dead. Therefore, Hades had Asklepios struck down with a thunderbolt. Yet, the legacy that Asklepios left behind was such that sanctuaries were built in his honor. The shrines were built on carefully chosen sites near streams, near springs, or in the shade of forests-areas of the source of his medicinal plants. There people seeking cures came to pray or to offer sacrifices. Miraculous cures are said to have taken place in these temples to Asklepios. Seven surviving accounts from the 4th century B.C. record numerous cures of the sick at Epidaurus in Peloponnese, the central of those sanctuaries.