Asclepias obovata |
Asclepias pedicellata |
|
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pineland milkweed |
savanna milkweed, savannah milkweed |
|
Habit | Herbs. | Herbs. |
Stems | 1 (rarely more), erect to spreading, unbranched, 40–70(–200) cm, densely hirtellous to velutinous, not glaucous, rhizomes absent. |
1, erect, unbranched, 10–45 cm, puberulent with curved trichomes, not glaucous, rhizomes absent. |
Leaves | opposite, petiolate, with 1 or 2 stipular colleters on each side of petiole; petiole 1–4 mm, densely hirtellous to velutinous; blade oblong or elliptic to obovate or ovate, 4–9 × 1–3.5 cm, subcoriaceous, base rounded or truncate to cordate, margins sometimes crisped, apex acute to truncate, sometimes emarginate, often mucronate, venation brochidodromous, surfaces densely hirtellous to velutinous abaxially, hirtellous adaxially, margins ciliate, 8–12 laminar colleters. |
opposite, sessile, with 1 stipular colleter on each side of leaf base; blade linear to narrowly elliptic or narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–6 × 0.1–0.8 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute, mucronate, venation obscure to eucamptodromous, surfaces puberulent with curved trichomes or scabridulous to glabrate, margins ciliate, 2 laminar colleters. |
Inflorescences | extra-axillary, sometimes also appearing terminal, sessile or pedunculate, 7–31-flowered; peduncle 0–0.5 cm, densely hirtellous to velutinous, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel. |
terminal and extra-axillary at upper nodes, pedunculate, 2–7-flowered; peduncle 0.15–1 cm, densely puberulent with curved trichomes, with 1 caducous bract at the base of each pedicel. |
Pedicels | 10–12 mm, densely hirtellous to velutinous. |
5–13 mm, minutely puberulent with curved trichomes. |
Flowers | erect to pendent; calyx lobes elliptic, 5–6 mm, apex acute, densely hirtellous; corolla green, sometimes tinged reddish or bronze, lobes reflexed, sometimes with spreading tips, elliptic, 7–9 mm, apex acute, glabrous abaxially, minutely papillose at base adaxially; gynostegial column 1–1.5 mm; fused anthers green, obconic, 2.5–4 mm, wings right-triangular, open at base, apical appendages broadly ovate; corona segments bronze to yellow, often tinged red, sometimes apically cream or pale, stipitate, tubular, somewhat flattened laterally, flared at base, 5–8 mm, greatly exceeding style apex, apex rounded, flared, glabrous, internal appendage falcate, exserted, sharply incurved over style apex, glabrous; style apex shallowly depressed, green. |
erect; calyx lobes elliptic, 2–3 mm, apex acute, sparsely puberulent with curved trichomes to glabrate; corolla yellowish green to green, lobes erect, mostly concealing corona, narrowly elliptic, 7–10 mm, apex acute, glabrous; gynostegial column 4–6 mm; fused anthers green, broadly conic, 1–1.5 mm, wings right-triangular with decurrent base, closed, apical appendages ovate; corona segments yellowish green to green, sometimes dark green at apex, sessile, conduplicate, 1.5–2.5 mm, greatly exceeded by style apex, apex incurved, rounded, glabrous, internal appendage absent; style apex flat, green. |
Seeds | broadly ovate, 8–9 × 6–7 mm, margin winged, faces smooth; coma 2–5 cm. |
ovate, 5–6 × 3–4 mm, margin winged, faces sparsely and minutely rugulose; coma 2–2.5 cm. |
Follicles | erect on upcurved pedicels, narrowly to broadly fusiform, 7.5–12.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm, apex acuminate, smooth, densely hirtellous to velutinous. |
erect on straight pedicels, fusiform, 8–14 × 0.3–0.5 cm, apex long-attenuate, smooth, densely puberulent with curved trichomes. |
Asclepias obovata |
Asclepias pedicellata |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Sep; fruiting Jul–Oct. | Flowering Mar–Nov(–Dec); fruiting May–Oct. |
Habitat | Hills, slopes, flats, ridges, sandhills, ditches, seeps, bogs, sandstone, sandy, rocky, silty, and clay soils, pine flatwoods, pine savannas, pine, pine-oak, and bottomland hardwood forests, prairies, often following fires. | Flats, streamsides, sandhills, sandy soils, pine flatwoods, savannas, pine-palmetto and oak-palmetto scrubs, often following fires. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; OK; SC; TX
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FL; GA; NC; SC
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Discussion | Asclepias obovata is a common milkweed of seasonally wet, sandy soils in pine woodlands of the Gulf Coastal Plain and (rarely) the southern Atlantic Coastal Plain. It is rare and considered to be of conservation concern in Arkansas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Asclepias pedicellata is found in drier habitats than some co-distributed milkweeds, such as A. connivens and A. viridula. It sometimes occurs in the same sites as A. cinerea, A. curtissii, and A. feayi. The erect petals and elongate gynostegial column are unique among Asclepias species in the flora area. The green flowers with hidden coronas and low stature of the plants can make them frustratingly cryptic in their grass-dominated habitats. Asclepias pedicellata is common only in Florida and North Carolina and is considered rare and of conservation concern in the intervening region in Georgia and South Carolina. (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 | ||
Synonyms | Podostigma pedicellatum | |
Name authority | Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 321. (1817) | Walter: Fl. Carol., 106. (1788) |
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