Asclepias longifolia
Asclepias subulata
Florida milkweed, long-leaf milkweed
ajamete, candelilla, rush milkweed
1–few, spreading to decumbent, unbranched, 25–70 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, not glaucous, rhizomes absent.
3–100 (usually few–numerous), erect to ascending, branched, especially in lower half, 50–175 cm, sparsely pilosulous to glabrate, thickly glaucous, rhizomes absent.
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.
ephemeral, often present on flowering stems, opposite (rarely whorled), sessile, with 0 or 1 stipular colleter on each side of leaf base;
blade filiform, 2–6 × 0.1 cm, succulent, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute, mucronate, venation obscure, surfaces pilosulous, laminar colleters absent.
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, 3–21-flowered;
peduncle 0.4–1.7 cm, sparsely pilose, glaucous, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
9–16 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
11–21 mm, pilose.
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 to spreading;
calyx lobes lanceolate, 4–4.5 mm, apex acute, pilose;
corolla green, sometimes tinged cream, yellow, or red, faintly striate, lobes reflexed, lanceolate, 7–12 mm, apex acute, glabrous;
gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;
fused anthers brown, cylindric, 2–3 mm, wings right-triangular, distended at base, open at tip, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments cream, often tinged pink, yellow, or green, shiny, sessile, tubular, 7–9 mm, greatly exceeding style apex, base saccate, apex truncate, spreading, with proximal flaps, glabrous, internal appendage crested, apically falcate and sharply inflexed towards style apex, barely exserted, minutely papillose;
style apex shallowly depressed, cream to green.
ovate, 11–12 × 7–8 mm, margin winged, faces smooth;
coma 4–5 cm.
flat to somewhat naviculate, ovate, 6–8 × 4–5 mm, margin narrowly winged, faces papillose-rugulose, concave face with a low keel;
coma 1.5–3 cm.
erect on upcurved pedicels, narrowly fusiform, 8–13.5 × 0.7–1.2 cm, apex attenuate, smooth, puberulent with curved trichomes.
pendulous on spreading pedicels, fusiform, 6.5–13.5 × 1–1.8 cm, apex acuminate, smooth, sparsely pilosulous or puberulent with curved trichomes to glabrate, glaucous.
= 22.
Asclepias longifolia
Asclepias subulata
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.)
Morphological and ecological distinctions between Asclepias subulata and its close relative, A. albicans, are discussed under the latter species. The range of A. subulata is more extensive than A. albicans and is almost exactly confluent with that of the Sonoran Desert, although it extends into the southeastern part of the Mohave Desert. In Nevada, it is restricted to Clark and Lincoln counties. The elongate, tubular, cream corona segments are remarkably similar to those of A. nyctaginifolia. These species were formerly considered close relatives (R. E. Woodson Jr. 1954), but they are highly dissimilar morphologically, other than the corona segments. They appear to be only distantly related (M. Fishbein et al. 2011, 2018), and the corona similarities represent a remarkable convergence. Both species are commonly visited by long-tongued tarantula hawk wasps (Pompilidae, Pepsinae), but it is not known whether they are important pollinators for these milkweeds.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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