Asclepias brachystephana
Asclepias eriocarpa
bract milkweed, short-crowned milkweed, shortcrown milkweed
Indian milkweed, kotolo, woollypod milkweed, wooly-pod or kotolo or Indian milkweed
4–25, erect, unbranched or branched near base, 20–40 cm, tomentulose, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
1–10, erect to spreading, rarely branched, 30–100 cm, tomentose to puberulent with curved trichomes or glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomatous.
opposite to subopposite, petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole;
petiole 2–8 mm, tomentulose;
blade linear-lanceolate, 5–15 × 0.3–1.3 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate to rounded, margins often obscurely crisped, apex acute, mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces tomentulose to glabrate, midvein puberulent with curved trichomes, margins minutely ciliate, laminar colleters absent.
opposite, or alternate or whorled at upper nodes, petiolate, with 0–2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole (sometimes additionally in the axil);
petiole 4–15 mm, tomentose;
blade oblong or oval to lanceolate or ovate, often conduplicate, 8–20 × 2–8 cm, chartaceous, base obtuse or truncate to cordate, margins entire or often undulate, apex acuminate to obtuse, mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces tomentose to densely puberulent with curved trichomes, margins ciliate, 6–8 laminar colleters.
extra-axillary, pedunculate, 4–15-flowered;
peduncle 0.2–1.5 cm, tomentose, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
terminal, sometimes branched, and extra-axillary at upper nodes, pedunculate, 12–57-flowered;
peduncle 1–10 cm, densely tomentose, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
9–15 mm, tomentose.
15–50 mm, densely tomentose.
erect;
calyx lobes ovate-lanceolate, 2–3 mm, apex acute, tomentulose;
corolla red-violet, sometimes green with red tinge, lobes reflexed, ovate, 4–6 mm, apex acute, minutely pilosulous;
gynostegium subsessile;
fused anthers brown, cylindric, 2–2.5 mm, wings right-triangular, closed, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments red-violet to pink basally, white apically, sessile, tubular, 1.5–2 mm, greatly exceeded by style apex, apex truncate, oblique, with a proximal tooth on each side, glabrous, internal appendage lingulate, slightly exserted, sharply inflexed towards gynostegium, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, red-violet.
erect to spreading;
calyx lobes lanceolate, 3–4 mm, apex acute, densely tomentose;
corolla greenish cream, ochroleucous, or pinkish cream, deep pink or tan abaxially, lobes reflexed, tips usually spreading, oval, 7–9 mm, apex acute, tomentose abaxially towards tips, glabrous adaxially;
gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;
fused anthers dark brown, cylindric, 2.5–3 mm, wings right-triangular, closed, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments cream to dark pink, stipitate, conduplicate, dorsally rounded, 2.5–3 mm, exceeded by style apex, apex truncate, oblique, papillose, internal appendage falcate, exserted, sharply inflexed towards style apex, papillose;
style apex shallowly depressed, cream.
oval to ovate, 6–7 × 4–6 mm, margin winged, faces papillate-tomentulose with dendritic scales;
coma 2–2.5 cm.
ovate, 7–9 × 4–6 mm, margin narrowly winged, faces faintly rugulose;
coma 2.5–3 cm.
erect on upcurved pedicels, lance-ovoid, 5–7 × 1.2–1.8 cm, apex acuminate, shallowly ribbed, conspicuously striate, tomentulose.
erect on upcurved pedicels, lance-ovoid, 5–10 × 1.5–3 cm, apex apiculate, smooth, densely tomentose.
Asclepias brachystephana
Asclepias eriocarpa
Asclepias brachystephana is a blue-gray, bushy herb with ascending foliage, few-flowered umbels of small, red and white flowers, and conspicuously striped follicles. It is unlike any other milkweed. Nonetheless, herbarium specimens are commonly confused with those of A. asperula because the herbage of A. brachystephana turns green on drying, and the leaves of A. asperula subsp. asperula are often of similar size and shape. However, leaf arrangement in A. asperula is alternate rather than opposite. The flowers of A. brachystephana are remarkably similar to, and convergent with, those of A. cutleri, A. eastwoodiana, A. ruthiae, A. sanjuanensis, and A. uncialis (M. Fishbein et al. 2011). In Arizona, A. brachystephana is restricted to the portion of the southeastern corner of the state with Chihuahuan floristic affinities, in Cochise, Graham, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Asclepias eriocarpa is found almost throughout the California Floristic Province in relatively dry, open sites in a variety of vegetation types. It is the only milkweed in the flora area that regularly produces alternate, opposite, and whorled leaves on a single stem. Its distribution overlaps that of several other broad-leaved, densely vestitured Asclepias species: A. erosa in desert scrub and dry grasslands, A. californica and A. vestita in chaparral and woodlands, and A. speciosa in woodlands. Comparison to A. erosa is presented under that species. Asclepias eriocarpa is easily distinguished from A. californica by the distinctive red-violet, rounded corona segments that lack appendages in the latter species. Asclepias eriocarpa has corona segments with truncate apices and corolla lobes that are tomentose abaxially only at the apex, in contrast to the obtuse corona segments and uniformly pubescent corolla lobes of A. vestita. Asclepias speciosa has distinctive corona segments with long, tapering apices that are much larger than and are easily distinguished from those of A. eriocarpa. It is possible that A. eriocarpa and A. speciosa occasionally hybridize—R. E. Woodson Jr. speculated (via annotation of the holotype, E. Gifford s.n. [CAS]) that A. giffordii Eastwood represented such a hybrid. That interpretation is accepted here. Asclepias eriocarpa is reported to be a resource for fiber and medicine by Native Americans.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
