Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias connivens
blood flower, bloodflower milkweed, hierba de la cucaracha, tropical milkweed, wild ipecacuanha
large-flower milkweed
1–several, erect, sparsely to moderately branched, 30–150 cm, minutely pilosulous in a line to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
1, erect, unbranched (rarely branched), 25–90 cm, minutely puberulent with curved trichomes or pilose to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
persistent or gradually caducous from the base, opposite, petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole on a ciliate interpetiolar ridge;
petiole 4–25 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes in a line to glabrate;
blade elliptic or oval to linear, 4–18 × 0.3–4.5 cm, membranous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate to attenuate, venation eucamptodromous to faintly brochidodromous, surfaces sparsely puberulent with curved trichomes on veins abaxially, sparsely puberulent with curved trichomes on veins to glabrate adaxially, margins ciliate, laminar colleters absent.
opposite, sessile or petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole;
petiole 0–1 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes to glabrate;
blade narrowly elliptic to linear or oblanceolate, 2.5–8 × 0.3–2.5 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to rounded, mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces sparsely pilose to glabrate, midvein puberulent with curved trichomes to glabrate, margins ciliate, 0–6 laminar colleters.
extra-axillary, pedunculate, 5–22-flowered;
peduncle 0.5–8 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes in a line, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
terminal, sometimes branched, and extra-axillary at upper nodes, pedunculate, 4–8-flowered;
peduncle 0.9–6 cm, densely puberulent with curved trichomes, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
7–20 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
10–20 mm, densely puberulent with curved trichomes.
erect;
calyx lobes linear-lanceolate, 3–4 mm, apex acute, puberulent with curved trichomes;
corolla red, sometimes yellow in throat (to wholly orange or yellow in cultivars), lobes reflexed with spreading tips, elliptic to oval, 6–9 mm, apex acute, glabrous abaxially, minutely papillose at base adaxially;
gynostegial column 2–2.5 mm;
fused anthers yellowish green to tan, cylindric, 1.5–2 mm, wings narrowly right-triangular, closed, apical appendages deltoid;
corona segments yellow to orange, stipitate, tubular, dorsally somewhat flattened, 3.5–4 mm, exceeding style apex, apex obtuse to acute, glabrous, internal appendage falcate, exserted, arching over style apex, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, yellow.
spreading to pendent;
calyx lobes lanceolate, 4–6 mm, apex acute, sparsely pilosulous;
corollas green, sometimes tinged brown at apex, lobes reflexed with spreading tips, elliptic, 10–13 mm, apex acute to obtuse, sometimes emarginate, glabrous;
gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;
fused anthers green, obconic, 3–3.5 mm, wings narrowly right-triangular, distended at base, closed, apical appendages oval;
corona segments cream to pale green, stipitate, clavate, incurved, 8–10 mm, greatly exceeding style apex, apex rounded, glabrous, internal appendage a hidden crest, glabrous, apices of the 5 segments sometimes connivent;
style apex depressed, green.
ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces minutely rugulose to smooth;
coma 2.5–3 cm.
ovate, 7–9 × 5–6 mm, margin winged, faces minutely and sparsely rugulose;
coma 3–3.5 cm.
erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 6–10 × 0.5–1.2 cm, apex acuminate to attenuate, smooth, glabrous.
erect on upcurved pedicels, fusiform, 11.5–15 × 0.5–1.4 cm, apex long-attenuate, smooth, minutely pilosulous.
= 22.
Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias connivens
Asclepias curassavica is the only non-native Asclepias species naturalized in the flora area. It is very commonly cultivated, originally for its strikingly colored flowers and their attraction of Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. Recently, they have been valued also as a host plant for monarch butterflies. Cultivars with pure orange or pure yellow flowers are readily available. The species develops rapidly from seed and can be grown as an annual (in the horticultural sense) anywhere in the region. Though often described as an annual, like all species of Asclepias, it has a perennial habit. It may persist through mild winters at least as far north as Oklahoma but has only become established in frost-free areas of the southern United States.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Asclepias connivens is a singular species—the large, incurved, clavate corona segments are unlike any others in the genus. With wide leaves and large flowers, A. connivens is more conspicuous than most co-occurring milkweeds, such as A. cinerea, A. feayi, A. pedicellata, and A. viridula. It prefers wet soils and often occurs at the same sites as A. viridula and the red-orange-flowered A. lanceolata. Asclepias connivens barely enters South Carolina in Jasper and Beaufort counties and is considered rare and to be of conservation concern in that state. It has been reported from Mississippi, but there are no specimens from that state, and occurrence there seems unlikely, as A. connivens has not been documented from southwestern Alabama either. It would be interesting to discover what pollinates the large and unusual flower of A. connivens; however, there appear to be no reports of flower visitors to this species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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