The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Florida milkweed, long-leaf milkweed

blood flower, bloodflower milkweed, hierba de la cucaracha, tropical milkweed, wild ipecacuanha

Habit Herbs. Subshrubs or herbs.
Stems

1–few, spreading to decumbent, unbranched, 25–70 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.

1–several, erect, sparsely to moderately branched, 30–150 cm, minutely pilosulous in a line to glabrate, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.

Leaves

opposite or alternate, sessile or petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole, also in axil;

petiole 0–2 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes;

blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 5–18 × 0.2–1 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to attenuate, sometimes mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces scabridulous to puberulent with curved trichomes, especially on veins, 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 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.

Inflorescences

terminal and extra-axillary at upper nodes, sessile or pedunculate, 13–28(–36)-flowered;

peduncle 0–6 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.

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.

Pedicels

9–16 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.

7–20 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.

Flowers

erect to spreading;

calyx lobes narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm, apex acute, puberulent with curved trichomes;

corolla white to greenish cream, purple at lobe tips, lobes reflexed, oblong, 3–5 mm, apex obtuse, glabrous;

gynostegial column 0.2–0.5 mm;

fused anthers green or brown, cylindric, 1–1.5 mm, wings triangular to trapezoidal, widest at middle, slightly open at tip, apical appendages ovate;

corona segments pinkish lavender to red-violet, often with white apex, often a darker red-violet stripe or at base, sessile, laminar, strongly dorsally compressed, margins incurved, appressed to column, curved to subsaccate, 2–2.5 mm, exceeding point of anther wings, greatly exceeded by style apex, apex obtuse to truncate, glabrous, internal appendage absent or obscure, glabrous;

style apex shallowly depressed, greenish cream to green.

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.

Seeds

ovate, 11–12 × 7–8 mm, margin winged, faces smooth;

coma 4–5 cm.

ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces minutely rugulose to smooth;

coma 2.5–3 cm.

Follicles

erect on upcurved pedicels, narrowly fusiform, 8–13.5 × 0.7–1.2 cm, apex attenuate, smooth, puberulent with curved trichomes.

erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 6–10 × 0.5–1.2 cm, apex acuminate to attenuate, smooth, glabrous.

2n

= 22.

Asclepias longifolia

Asclepias curassavica

Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Feb–Sep(–Oct); fruiting Apr–Aug. Flowering and fruiting year-round.
Habitat Bogs, swamps, flats, ditches, depressions, pond edges, sandy, clay, and rocky soils, wet prairies, pine flatwoods, oak woodlands, savannas, pastures, often following fires. Disturbed areas, fields, orchards, and gardens, canal banks, ditches, streamsides, wet prairies, marshes, swamps, coastal dunes, sandy soils.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; DE; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; FL; LA; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also to Old World tropics]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Asclepias longifolia has sometimes been treated to include A. hirtella as conspecific, as discussed under that species. As circumscribed here, the distribution of A. longifolia extends along the Atlantic Coastal Plain south of Delaware to Florida and westward to the Mississppi River. Reports of A. longifolia from west of the Mississippi River in Louisiana and in Texas are assigned here to A. hirtella. Hence, the range of A. longifolia in Louisiana is extremely limited, and the conservation status of this species warrants assessment in that state (Livingston, Saint Helena, Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes). Reports of A. longifolia from Maryland and West Virginia have not been confirmed, and the species is considered extirpated from Delaware. Otherwise, it is rare at the northern extent of its range and considered to be of conservation concern in North Carolina and Virginia (Greensville and Prince George counties).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

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.)

Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Apocynaceae > Asclepias Apocynaceae > Asclepias
Sibling taxa
A. albicans, A. amplexicaulis, A. angustifolia, A. arenaria, A. asperula, A. brachystephana, A. californica, A. cinerea, A. connivens, A. cordifolia, A. cryptoceras, A. curassavica, A. curtissii, A. cutleri, A. eastwoodiana, A. elata, A. emoryi, A. engelmanniana, A. eriocarpa, A. erosa, A. exaltata, A. fascicularis, A. feayi, A. hallii, A. hirtella, A. humistrata, A. hypoleuca, A. incarnata, A. involucrata, A. labriformis, A. lanceolata, A. lanuginosa, A. latifolia, A. lemmonii, A. linaria, A. linearis, A. macrosperma, A. macrotis, A. meadii, A. michauxii, A. nummularia, A. nyctaginifolia, A. obovata, A. oenotheroides, A. ovalifolia, A. pedicellata, A. perennis, A. prostrata, A. pumila, A. purpurascens, A. quadrifolia, A. quinquedentata, A. rubra, A. rusbyi, A. ruthiae, A. sanjuanensis, A. scaposa, A. solanoana, A. speciosa, A. sperryi, A. stenophylla, A. subulata, A. subverticillata, A. sullivantii, A. syriaca, A. texana, A. tomentosa, A. tuberosa, A. uncialis, A. variegata, A. verticillata, A. vestita, A. viridiflora, A. viridis, A. viridula, A. welshii
A. albicans, A. amplexicaulis, A. angustifolia, A. arenaria, A. asperula, A. brachystephana, A. californica, A. cinerea, A. connivens, A. cordifolia, A. cryptoceras, A. curtissii, A. cutleri, A. eastwoodiana, A. elata, A. emoryi, A. engelmanniana, A. eriocarpa, A. erosa, A. exaltata, A. fascicularis, A. feayi, A. hallii, A. hirtella, A. humistrata, A. hypoleuca, A. incarnata, A. involucrata, A. labriformis, A. lanceolata, A. lanuginosa, A. latifolia, A. lemmonii, A. linaria, A. linearis, A. longifolia, A. macrosperma, A. macrotis, A. meadii, A. michauxii, A. nummularia, A. nyctaginifolia, A. obovata, A. oenotheroides, A. ovalifolia, A. pedicellata, A. perennis, A. prostrata, A. pumila, A. purpurascens, A. quadrifolia, A. quinquedentata, A. rubra, A. rusbyi, A. ruthiae, A. sanjuanensis, A. scaposa, A. solanoana, A. speciosa, A. sperryi, A. stenophylla, A. subulata, A. subverticillata, A. sullivantii, A. syriaca, A. texana, A. tomentosa, A. tuberosa, A. uncialis, A. variegata, A. verticillata, A. vestita, A. viridiflora, A. viridis, A. viridula, A. welshii
Synonyms Acerates floridana, A. longifolia, A. floridana
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 116. (1803) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 215. (1753)
Web links