Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias sullivantii
blood flower, bloodflower milkweed, hierba de la cucaracha, tropical milkweed, wild ipecacuanha
asclépiade de Sullivant, prairie milkweed, Sullivant's milkweed
1–several, erect, sparsely to moderately branched, 30–150 cm, minutely pilosulous in a line to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
solitary, erect, unbranched, 55–90 cm, glabrous, 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.
opposite, sessile, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of leaf base;
blade lanceolate or ovate to oblong, 6.5–15 × 1.5–9 cm, succulent, base cordate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded or acute, sometimes emarginate, mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces glabrous, glaucous, margins eciliate, 4–12 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.
extra-axillary at upper nodes, sometimes appearing terminal, pedunculate, 9–29-flowered;
peduncle 1–6 cm, glabrous, glaucous, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
7–20 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
22–36 mm, glabrous, glaucous.
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;
calyx lobes lanceolate, 4–5 mm, apex acute, glabrous, glaucous;
corolla dark pink, pale at base of lobes, lobes reflexed, sometimes with spreading tips, elliptic, 8–12 mm, apex acute, glabrous;
gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;
fused anthers truncately green, obconic, 2.5–3.5 mm, wings narrowly right-triangular, open at base, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments pale to dark pink, subsessile, tubular, flattened dorsally, 5–7 mm, exceeding style apex, apex broadly obtuse, oblique, glabrous, internal appendage subulate, exserted, sharply inflexed over style apex, glabrous;
style apex shallowly 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 rugulose;
coma 3.5–4.5 cm.
erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 6–10 × 0.5–1.2 cm, apex acuminate to attenuate, smooth, glabrous.
erect on upcurved pedicels, lance-ovoid, 7–11 × 1.5–3 cm, apex acuminate, sparsely muricate, sparsely pilosulous to glabrate, glaucous.
= 22.
= 22.
Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias sullivantii
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.)
The distribution of Asclepias sullivantii is coextensive with the tallgrass prairie, where it favors moist sites. The broad, smooth, glaucous, clasping leaves, often with pink venation, are similar only to A. amplexicaulis in the region, but the latter species favors dry sites and has a long, terminal peduncle. Because of the tremendous reduction in the extent and quality of tallgrass prairie, A. sullivantii is presumed to be less common than in former times and is considered to be rare and of conservation concern in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario (Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Essex, Lambton, and Middlesex counties). It may be extirpated from North Dakota (historically in Cass and Richland counties) and South Dakota (historically in Clay, Lincoln, and Union counties). In Nebraska, it is limited to the eastern one-third of the state. Nonetheless, it is encountered commonly in suitable habitat along roadsides in the core of its range, in Illinois and Kansas. Asclepias sullivantii commonly co-occurs with and is often mistaken for A. syriaca from a distance but is easily distinguished by its smaller stature, ascending leaves, and the concentration of umbels at the apex of the stem, in addition to the glabrous and glaucous herbage that can be observed with closer examination. It is known to hybridize rarely with A. syriaca, and presumed hybrids can be recognized by intermediate vegetative and floral features.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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