Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias quadrifolia
blood flower, bloodflower milkweed, hierba de la cucaracha, tropical milkweed, wild ipecacuanha
asclépiade à quatre feuilles, four-leaf 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, 25–60 cm, puberulent on 1 side with curved trichomes 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, 2 mid-stem pairs usually with shortened internode forming a pseudo-whorl, petiolate, with 1 stipular colleter on each side of petiole;
petiole 2–7 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes;
blade ovate to elliptic, 2.5–12 × 1–6 cm, membranous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to attenuate or acuminate, venation eucamptodromous, surfaces inconspicuously puberulent on veins with curved trichomes, margins 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.
terminal, sometimes branched, and usually also extra-axillary at upper nodes, sessile or pedunculate, 7–31-flowered;
peduncle 0–3.5 cm, puberulent on 1 side with curved trichomes, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
7–20 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
17–28 mm, puberulent on 1 side 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, 1.5–2 mm, apex acute, glabrous;
corolla pink or cream, lobes reflexed, elliptic, 4–5 mm, apex acute, glabrous abaxially, minutely papillose at base adaxially;
gynostegial column 0.5–1.5 mm;
fused anthers tan to brown, cylindric, 1–1.5 mm, wings right-triangular, closed, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments pink or cream, sometimes striped pink dorsally, sessile, conduplicate, flattened dorsally, 2.5–4 mm, exceeding style apex, apex obtuse, oblique, glabrous, internal appendage subulate, exserted, arched to sharply inflexed over style apex, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, cream to pale pink.
ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces minutely rugulose to smooth;
coma 2.5–3 cm.
ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces rugulose;
coma 3–4.5 cm.
erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 6–10 × 0.5–1.2 cm, apex acuminate to attenuate, smooth, glabrous.
erect on straight pedicels, narrowly fusiform, 8–16 × 0.4–1 cm, apex long-attenuate, smooth, sparsely puberulent with curved trichomes to glabrate.
= 22.
Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias quadrifolia
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 quadrifolia is small statured compared to the other deciduous forest milkweeds. It is found predominantly on slopes of eroded, sedimentary rocks, especially cherty limestone. Like A. purpurascens, it is distributed primarily in the Appalachian and Ozark mountains. Populations with pinkish flowers are lovely in early spring; other populations have a more washed-out coloration. The characteristic pseudo-whorl of four mid-stem leaves is not always present. Like other forest milkweeds, it has experienced large population reductions at the northeastern margin of its range due to habitat loss. It is considered to be extirpated from Delaware and to be rare and of conservation concern in New Hampshire, Rhode Island (Providence County), and Ontario (Prince Edward County), as well as to the west in Kansas (Cherokee County). It has been reported, but not verified, from Minnesota. Putative hybrids with A. exaltata have been documented very rarely from the Appalachian Mountains and can be recognized by intermediate floral and vegetative traits.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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