Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias perennis
blood flower, bloodflower milkweed, hierba de la cucaracha, tropical milkweed, wild ipecacuanha
aquatic milkweed, aquatic or white swamp or swamp or thin-leaf milkweed
1–several, erect, sparsely to moderately branched, 30–150 cm, minutely pilosulous in a line to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
1–5, erect, sparsely to moderately branched, especially towards base, 30–60 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes in a line to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomatous.
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.
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 10–12 mm, ciliate;
blade narrowly elliptic to oval or oblong, 5–14 × 0.3–3 cm, membranous or chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to attenuate or acuminate, minutely mucronate, venation faintly brochidodromous to eucamptodromous, surfaces sparsely puberulent with curved trichomes, more densely on veins, to glabrate, margins inconspicuously ciliate, 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, pedunculate, 12–30-flowered;
peduncle 1.5–5 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, sometimes only on 1 side, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
7–20 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
7–13 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes, sometimes only on 1 side.
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 spreading;
calyx lobes narrowly lanceolate to linear, 1.2–1.5 mm, apex acute, puberulent with curved trichomes;
corolla white to pink-tinged, lobes reflexed with spreading tips, elliptic, 3–4 mm, apex acute to obtuse, glabrous abaxially, minutely papillose at base adaxially;
gynostegial column 0.8–1.2 mm;
fused anthers brown, cylindric, 1.5–2 mm, wings narrowly right-triangular, closed, apical appendages deltoid;
corona segments white, sometimes faintly pink-tinged, stipitate, tubular, dorsally rounded, 1.5–2.5 mm, slightly exceeding style apex, apex obtuse to acute, glabrous, internal appendage acicular, exserted, arching over style apex, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, white, sometimes pink-tinged.
ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces minutely rugulose to smooth;
coma 2.5–3 cm.
broadly oval, 12–15 × 11–14 mm, margin broadly winged, faces smooth;
coma absent.
erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 6–10 × 0.5–1.2 cm, apex acuminate to attenuate, smooth, glabrous.
pendulous on declined pedicels, lance-ovoid, 4–7 × 1–2.5 cm, apex long-acuminate, smooth, glabrous.
= 22.
Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias perennis
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 perennis is the most hydrophytic North American milkweed and is often found emerging from standing water in swamps and ditches. The pendulous fruits and hairless seeds are distinctive; it is the only milkweed in the United States with seeds lacking a coma, and only one of three such species in North America. It is widely distributed along the coastal plain; inland (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee), it is restricted to the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and their tributaries.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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