Flora of North America species comparison

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Asclepias cordifolia

Asclepias rusbyi
Asclepias cordifolia

heart-leaf milkweed, purple milkweed

Rusby's milkweed
Habit Herbs. Herbs.
Stems

1–20, ascending to spreading, unbranched, 25–100 cm, glabrous, glaucous, rhizomes absent.

1 or 2 (rarely more), erect, sometimes branched, 50–100 cm, glabrous, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
Leaves

opposite, sessile, stipular colleters absent;

blade ovate to lanceolate, 3.5–11 × 1.8–8 cm, chartaceous, base cordate, clasping, margins entire, apex acute, mucronate, venation brochidodromous to eucamptodromous, surfaces glabrous, glaucous, margins minutely ciliate, laminar colleters absent.

alternate, sessile or petiolate, drooping, with 1 stipular colleter on each side of petiole;

petiole 0–0.1 cm, glabrous;

blade linear, conduplicate, 9–15 × 0.2–0.3 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute, venation faintly brochidodromous to obscure, surfaces glabrous, margins ciliate, laminar colleters absent.
Inflorescences

terminal, branched, sometimes also extra-axillary at upper nodes, pedunculate, 5–20-flowered;

peduncle 0.3–6.5 cm, apically sparsely pilose to glabrate, with few bracts.

extra-axillary, sessile or pedunculate, 7–28-flowered;

peduncle occasionally branched, 0–1.5 cm, pilosulous, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
Pedicels

16–37 mm, sparsely pilose.

7–10 mm, pilose.
Flowers

erect to pendent;

calyx lobes elliptic to lanceolate, 3–5 mm, apex acute, pilose;

corolla red-violet, lobes reflexed with spreading tips, oval, 6–7 mm, apex acute, glabrous;

gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;

fused anthers brown, cylindric, 1.5–2 mm, wings right-triangular, open at tip, apical appendages deltoid;

corona segments white, tinged pink to red-violet at base, sessile, tubular, 2–3 mm, exceeded by style apex, base saccate, apex truncate, oblique, glabrous, internal appendage absent;

style apex shallowly depressed, pink to red-violet.

erect to spreading;

calyx lobes narrowly lanceolate, 3–4 mm, apex acute, pilosulous to glabrate;

corollas abaxially russet or tan or bronze to pale green, adaxially pale green, lobes reflexed with ascending tips, elliptic, 4–6 mm, apex acute, glabrous;

gynostegial column 0–0.5 mm;

fused anthers green, obconic, 3 mm, wings crescent-shaped, connivent distally, wider and open at base, apical appendages deltoid, obscuring corpuscula;

corona segments yellowish green to yellow or bronze, sessile, chute-shaped, 1.5–2.5 mm, exceeded by style apex, base saccate, auriculate, apex truncate, glabrous;

internal appendage absent or a low crest, glabrous;

style apex shallowly depressed, green to yellowish green.
Seeds

ovate, 8–9 × 5–7 mm, margin not winged, faces reticulate-rugulose;

coma 3–3.5 cm.

ovate, 6–8 × 4–6 mm, margins winged, faces minutely papillose and rugulose;

coma 2–2.5 cm.
Follicles

erect on upcurved pedicels, lance-ovoid, 7.5–10.5 × 1.5–1.8 cm, apex long-acuminate, smooth, glabrous, glaucous.

erect on upcurved pedicels, lance-ovoid, 9–12.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm, apex long-acuminate, smooth, faintly striate, sparsely pilosulous to glabrate.
2n

= 22.

Asclepias cordifolia

Asclepias rusbyi
Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul(–Aug); fruiting Jun–Sep. Flowering Jun–Aug; fruiting Aug–Oct.
Habitat Hill­sides, canyons, ridge tops, streamsides, seeps, basalt, serpentine, gabbro, granite, shale, limestone, talus slopes, gravel, alluvium, oak woodlands, mixed ever­green, douglas-fir, pine, pine-oak, and riparian forests, chaparral, timberline meadows, grasslands. Ridges, arroyos, canyons, slopes, basalt, granite, sandstone, shale, sandy, rocky, clay, and gravel soils, oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands, pine, pine-oak, and riparian forests, forest edges.
Elevation 50–2200(–2800) m. [160–7200(–9200) ft.] 1200–2300 m. [3900–7500 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; NV; UT; Mexico (Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Fresh leaves and stems of Asclepias cordifolia are often slightly or strongly colored bluish, grayish, or purplish. This is one of the few American species of Asclepias with cavitate corona segments that lack adaxial appendages. Such species were segregated along with diverse African species in Gomphocarpus R. Brown, a polyphyletic segregate (M. Fishbein et al. 2011; D. Chuba et al. 2017). Asclepias cordifolia is a distinctive species unlike any other within its range. It is phylogenetically and geographically isolated, although not highly derived morphologically. In Nevada, A. cordifolia is restricted to the Sierra Nevada, in Carson City, Douglas, and Washoe counties. Its range extends to northern California and southwestern Oregon.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

As noted under Asclepias engelmanniana, A. rusbyi has been only inconsistently recognized as distinct from its more widespread relative. The species has an unusual distribution. In the north, A. rusbyi is encountered on the Colorado Plateau north of the Colorado River and extends west into pinyon-juniper woodlands and desert canyons at the upper margin of the Sonoran Desert. A few populations have been documented in Colorado (Archuleta, La Plata, Mesa, Montezuma, and Montrose counties), Nevada (Lincoln County), northern New Mexico (Rio Arriba and San Juan counties), and Utah (Garfield, San Juan, and Washington counties), and should be considered to be of conservation concern in these states. South of the Colorado River, A. rusbyi is found throughout eastern Arizona, from the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, through the Mogollon Rim, to the sky-island mountains of the border region, where it is found in pinyon-juniper woodlands and pine-oak forests. In this region, it is rare in New Mexico (Catron and Grant counties).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 14. Treatment author: Mark Fishbein. FNA vol. 14. Treatment author: Mark Fishbein.
Parent taxa Apocynaceae > Asclepias Apocynaceae > Asclepias
Sibling taxa
A. albicans, A. amplexicaulis, A. angustifolia, A. arenaria, A. asperula, A. brachystephana, A. californica, A. cinerea, A. connivens, A. cryptoceras, A. curassavica, A. curtissii, A. cutleri, A. eastwoodiana, A. elata, A. emoryi, A. engelmanniana, A. eriocarpa, A. erosa, A. exaltata, A. fascicularis, A. feayi, A. hallii, A. hirtella, A. humistrata, A. hypoleuca, A. incarnata, A. involucrata, A. labriformis, A. lanceolata, A. lanuginosa, A. latifolia, A. lemmonii, A. linaria, A. linearis, A. longifolia, A. macrosperma, A. macrotis, A. meadii, A. michauxii, A. nummularia, A. nyctaginifolia, A. obovata, A. oenotheroides, A. ovalifolia, A. pedicellata, A. perennis, A. prostrata, A. pumila, A. purpurascens, A. quadrifolia, A. quinquedentata, A. rubra, A. rusbyi, A. ruthiae, A. sanjuanensis, A. scaposa, A. solanoana, A. speciosa, A. sperryi, A. stenophylla, A. subulata, A. subverticillata, A. sullivantii, A. syriaca, A. texana, A. tomentosa, A. tuberosa, A. uncialis, A. variegata, A. verticillata, A. vestita, A. viridiflora, A. viridis, A. viridula, A. welshii
A. albicans, A. amplexicaulis, A. angustifolia, A. arenaria, A. asperula, A. brachystephana, A. californica, A. cinerea, A. connivens, A. cordifolia, A. cryptoceras, A. curassavica, A. curtissii, A. cutleri, A. eastwoodiana, A. elata, A. emoryi, A. engelmanniana, A. eriocarpa, A. erosa, A. exaltata, A. fascicularis, A. feayi, A. hallii, A. hirtella, A. humistrata, A. hypoleuca, A. incarnata, A. involucrata, A. labriformis, A. lanceolata, A. lanuginosa, A. latifolia, A. lemmonii, A. linaria, A. linearis, A. longifolia, A. macrosperma, A. macrotis, A. meadii, A. michauxii, A. nummularia, A. nyctaginifolia, A. obovata, A. oenotheroides, A. ovalifolia, A. pedicellata, A. perennis, A. prostrata, A. pumila, A. purpurascens, A. quadrifolia, A. quinquedentata, A. rubra, A. ruthiae, A. sanjuanensis, A. scaposa, A. solanoana, A. speciosa, A. sperryi, A. stenophylla, A. subulata, A. subverticillata, A. sullivantii, A. syriaca, A. texana, A. tomentosa, A. tuberosa, A. uncialis, A. variegata, A. verticillata, A. vestita, A. viridiflora, A. viridis, A. viridula, A. welshii
Synonyms Acerates cordifolia, Gomphocarpus cordifolius Acerates rusbyi, A. engelmanniana var. rusbyi
Name authority (Bentham) Jepson: Fl. W. Calif., 384. (1901) (Vail) Woodson: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 41: 183. (1954)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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