Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias vestita
blood flower, bloodflower milkweed, hierba de la cucaracha, tropical milkweed, wild ipecacuanha
woolly milkweed, wooly milkweed
1–several, erect, sparsely to moderately branched, 30–150 cm, minutely pilosulous in a line to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
1–20, prostrate to decumbent or ascending, rarely branched, 25–90 cm, tomentose, 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, petiolate, with 0 or 1 stipular colleter on each side of petiole;
petiole 3–10 mm, tomentose;
blade elliptic or oval to lanceolate or ovate, 8–20 × 2–10 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate to rounded or cordate, margins entire, apex acute to attenuate or acuminate, mucronate, venation eucamptodromous to faintly brochidodromous, surfaces densely to thinly tomentose, laminar colleters absent.
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.
extra-axillary at upper nodes, sometimes appearing terminal, sessile or pedunculate, 19–45-flowered;
peduncle 0–3.5 cm, densely tomentose, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
7–20 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
15–35 mm, densely tomentose.
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.
erect to pendent;
calyx lobes elliptic, 5–6 mm, apex acute, densely tomentose;
corolla green to pinkish purple, lobes reflexed, sometimes with spreading tips, oval, 6–9 mm, apex acute, densely tomentose abaxially, papillose at base adaxially;
gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;
fused anthers dark brown, truncately obconic, 1.5–2 mm, wings right-triangular, closed, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments cream to dark pink, sessile, conduplicate, dorsally rounded, 3–3.5 mm, equaling or slightly exceeding style apex, apex obtuse, oblique, margin with proximal tooth, glabrous, internal appendage falcate, slightly exserted, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, cream.
ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces minutely rugulose to smooth;
coma 2.5–3 cm.
ovate, 10–12 × 7–10 mm, margin very narrowly winged, faces smooth;
coma 2–2.5 cm.
erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 6–10 × 0.5–1.2 cm, apex acuminate to attenuate, smooth, glabrous.
erect on upcurved pedicels, ovoid, 5–6.5 × 2–2.5 cm, apex apiculate to acuminate, longitudinally ridged, tomentulose.
= 22.
= 22.
Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias vestita
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.)
W. L. Jepson (1923–1925) and R. E. Woodson Jr. (1954) segregated southern populations (Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties) from northern populations (Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, and San Luis Obispo counties) as varieties or subspecies. Of their distinguishing characters, only flower color is consistently different between these segments of the range: northern populations have pale green corollas with at most a pink tinge, whereas southern populations have pale burgundy to red-violet corollas. There is a tendency for plants in southern populations to be smaller and become more evidently glabrate late in the season, but more robust and hairier plants can also be found in the south. Further research may support recognition of distinct taxa for these populations, but they are not recognized here. Asclepias vestita is similar to co-occurring A. californica in the absence of flowers or fruits, but plants of A. vestita tend to be more prostrate and compact and the leaves tend to be broader towards the base and more quickly glabrate.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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