Asclepias meadii
Asclepias purpurascens
Mead's milkweed
asclépiade pourpreé, purple milkweed
1 (rarely 2), erect, unbranched, 20–80 cm, glabrous, glaucous, rhizomatous.
1, erect, unbranched, 50–120 cm, puberulent in lines with curved trichomes, not glaucous, rhizomatous.
opposite, sessile, with 1 stipular colleter on each side of petiole;
blade ovate to lanceolate, 4.5–10 × 1–5 cm, chartaceous, base rounded to obtuse, margins entire, apex acute, venation brochidodromous, surfaces glabrous, glaucous, margins inconspicuously ciliate, laminar colleters absent.
opposite (rarely whorled at 1 midstem node), petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole, also in axil;
petiole 4–18 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes;
blade ovate or oval to lanceolate or elliptic, 6–20 × 2–10 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex obtuse to acute, apiculate, or mucronate, venation eucamptodromous to faintly brochidodromous, surfaces pilosulous, sparsely so adaxially, margins ciliate, 12–20 laminar colleters.
terminal, rarely branched, pedunculate, 7–19-flowered;
peduncle (0–)3–10 cm, sparsely pilosulous to glabrate, glaucous, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
terminal, branched, also usually extra-axillary, sessile or pedunculate, 17–72-flowered;
peduncle 0–7 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes to pilosulous, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel.
11–20 mm, pilosulous.
12–28 mm, puberulent with curved trichomes.
pendent;
calyx lobes narrowly lanceolate, 4–5 mm, apex acute, pilosulous;
corolla green to greenish cream, sometimes tinged red, lobes reflexed with spreading tips, oval, 7–9 mm, apex acute, glabrous;
gynostegial column 1.5–1.8 mm, fused anthers green, truncately obconic, 2–2.5 mm, wings right-triangular, closed, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments green to yellowish green or greenish cream, sessile, conduplicate, dorsally rounded, 4–5.5 mm, greatly exceeding style apex, base saccate, apex obtuse, emarginate, slightly flared, glabrous, internal appendage falcate, exserted, sharply inflexed towards style apex, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, green.
erect to spreading;
calyx lobes lanceolate, 3–5 mm, apex acute, puberulent with curved trichomes;
corolla reddish purple, lobes reflexed with spreading tips, elliptic, 7–10 mm, apex acute, glabrous abaxially, papillose at base adaxially;
gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm;
fused anthers brown, cylindric, 2–2.5 mm, wings broadly right-triangular, closed to slightly open at tip, apical appendages ovate;
corona segments reddish purple, stipitate, conduplicate with a lateral flange on each side, 5–6 mm, greatly exceeding style apex, apex acute, glabrous, internal appendage falcate, exserted, sharply inflexed over style apex, glabrous;
style apex shallowly depressed, red-violet to green.
ovate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm, winged, faces coarsely papillose;
coma 3–4.5 cm.
ovate, 7–8 × 4–5 mm, margin winged, faces rugulose;
coma 3–4 cm.
erect on upcurved pedicels, narrowly fusiform, 7–14 × 0.9–1.6 cm, apex long-acuminate, smooth to minutely rugulose, puberulent with curved trichomes.
erect on upcurved pedicels, lance-ovoid, 10–16 × 1.5–2.5 cm, apex long-acuminate, smooth, puberulent with curved trichomes.
Asclepias meadii
Asclepias purpurascens
With respect to historical range reduction and potential threats, Asclepias meadii is the most endangered North American milkweed species and is considered to be of conservation concern in each of the states in which it occurs. Nearly all of the viable populations are now restricted to Missouri and eastern Kansas; many of these are found in hay meadows, in which fruit maturation does not occur. Asclepias meadii is endemic to the highly-impacted tallgrass prairie ecoregion and is thought to be rare as a result of habitat loss. Consequently, concern for the continued existence of this species can be considered emblematic of concern for the tallgrass prairie as a whole. Active recovery efforts have achieved limited success, with newly established populations experiencing high mortality and slow growth of transplants. It has been re-introduced to Indiana and Wisconsin, but long-term survival of these populations is uncertain. The sessile, glaucous leaves and pendent umbels on a long peduncle suggest a diminutive version of A. elata; however, these species do not appear to be closely related (Fishbein et al. 2011). The terminal inflorescence of pendent umbels is unique among tallgrass prairie milkweeds.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Asclepias purpurascens is most common in rocky uplands of the Ozark Mountains and the piedmont of the northern Appalachian Mountains. Its reddish purple flowers are extremely showy and the species merits cultivation. The flowers have a strong cinnamon scent. Similarities to A. variegata and A. exaltata are discussed under those species. Although widespread in eastern North America, A. purpurascens is now rare over most of its range and has experienced a significant loss of populations and habitat everywhere but the Ozarks. It is considered to be of conservation concern in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia (Floyd and Murray counties), Louisiana (Caldwell and Lincoln parishes), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi (Grenada and Washington counties), Nebraska (Nemaha and Richardson counties), New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Ontario (Chatham-Kent, Essex, and Lambton counties). Moreover, it is presumed extirpated from the District of Columbia, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. It has been reported, but not verified, from Maine and Vermont and, if historically present, is now extirpated there as well. Hybrids with A. amplexicaulis, A. exaltata, and A. syriaca have been documented from the New England and mid-Atlantic regions where A. purpurascens is now rare or extirpated. Putative hybrids exhibit intermediate floral and vegetative characteristics.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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