Burke: Asclepias speciosa

	Asclepias speciosa
	showy milkweed
Habit	Perennial herb from widespread rhizomes, the stems 4-12 dm. tall, gray-woolly throughout, the juice milky.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, petiolate, oblong-lanceolate to ovate-oblong, 10-20 cm. long and up to 10 cm. broad, transversely veined
Flowers	Inflorescence of several umbels with peduncles 3-8 cm. long and pedicels 1-3 cm. long; sepals 5, greenish, tinged with red; petals about 1 cm. long, pink to purplish-red; stamens 5, attached to the base of the corolla tube and to each other, forming a column, to which are attached saccate structures considerably longer that the petals, pink, with incurved projections; pistil 1, 2-carpellary, the ovaries superior and distinct.
Fruits	Follicles narrowly ovoid, warty, 7-11 cm. long, the seeds flattened, rough, 8 mm. long.

	Asclepias speciosa
Flowering time	June-August
Habitat	Riparian corridors, irrigation ditches, roadsides, and other at least seasonally wet areas at low elevations, often in loam soils.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to Mexico, east to the Great Plains and Great Lakes region. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	A. cryptoceras, A. fascicularis, A. incarnata
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Asclepias speciosa

showy milkweed

Habit

Perennial herb from widespread rhizomes, the stems 4-12 dm. tall, gray-woolly throughout, the juice milky.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, petiolate, oblong-lanceolate to ovate-oblong, 10-20 cm. long and up to 10 cm. broad, transversely veined

Flowers

Inflorescence of several umbels with peduncles 3-8 cm. long and pedicels 1-3 cm. long;

sepals 5, greenish, tinged with red;

petals about 1 cm. long, pink to purplish-red;

stamens 5, attached to the base of the corolla tube and to each other, forming a column, to which are attached saccate structures considerably longer that the petals, pink, with incurved projections;

pistil 1, 2-carpellary, the ovaries superior and distinct.

Fruits

Follicles narrowly ovoid, warty, 7-11 cm. long, the seeds flattened, rough, 8 mm. long.

Asclepias speciosa

Flowering time

June-August

Habitat

Riparian corridors, irrigation ditches, roadsides, and other at least seasonally wet areas at low elevations, often in loam soils.

Distribution

Occurring east of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to Mexico, east to the Great Plains and Great Lakes region.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa

A. cryptoceras, A. fascicularis, A. incarnata

Web links