Asclepias brachystephana
Asclepias longifolia
bract milkweed, short-crowned milkweed, shortcrown milkweed
Florida milkweed, long-leaf milkweed
4–25, erect, unbranched or branched near base, 20–40 cm, tomentulose, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
1–few, spreading to decumbent, unbranched, 25–70 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
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, sessile or petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole, also in axil;
petiole 0–2 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes;
blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 5–18 × 0.2–1 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to attenuate, sometimes mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces scabridulous to puberulent with curved trichomes, especially on veins, margins ciliate, laminar colleters absent.
extra-axillary, pedunculate, 4–15-flowered;
peduncle 0.2–1.5 cm, tomentose, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
terminal and extra-axillary at upper nodes, sessile or pedunculate, 13–28(–36)-flowered;
peduncle 0–6 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
9–15 mm, tomentose.
9–16 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
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 narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm, apex acute, puberulent with curved trichomes;
corolla white to greenish cream, purple at lobe tips, lobes reflexed, oblong, 3–5 mm, apex obtuse, glabrous;
gynostegial column 0.2–0.5 mm;
fused anthers green or brown, cylindric, 1–1.5 mm, wings triangular to trapezoidal, widest at middle, slightly open at tip, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments pinkish lavender to red-violet, often with white apex, often a darker red-violet stripe or at base, sessile, laminar, strongly dorsally compressed, margins incurved, appressed to column, curved to subsaccate, 2–2.5 mm, exceeding point of anther wings, greatly exceeded by style apex, apex obtuse to truncate, glabrous, internal appendage absent or obscure, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, greenish cream to green.
oval to ovate, 6–7 × 4–6 mm, margin winged, faces papillate-tomentulose with dendritic scales;
coma 2–2.5 cm.
ovate, 11–12 × 7–8 mm, margin winged, faces smooth;
coma 4–5 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, narrowly fusiform, 8–13.5 × 0.7–1.2 cm, apex attenuate, smooth, puberulent with curved trichomes.
Asclepias brachystephana
Asclepias longifolia
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 longifolia has sometimes been treated to include A. hirtella as conspecific, as discussed under that species. As circumscribed here, the distribution of A. longifolia extends along the Atlantic Coastal Plain south of Delaware to Florida and westward to the Mississppi River. Reports of A. longifolia from west of the Mississippi River in Louisiana and in Texas are assigned here to A. hirtella. Hence, the range of A. longifolia in Louisiana is extremely limited, and the conservation status of this species warrants assessment in that state (Livingston, Saint Helena, Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes). Reports of A. longifolia from Maryland and West Virginia have not been confirmed, and the species is considered extirpated from Delaware. Otherwise, it is rare at the northern extent of its range and considered to be of conservation concern in North Carolina and Virginia (Greensville and Prince George counties).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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