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Plains Milkweed, Dwarf Milkweed

[Asclepias pumila (Gray) Vail]

Apocynaceae (Dogbane Family) (formerly in Asclepiadaceae, the Milkweed Family)

▲▼ mature flowering plants (about 8-10 inches tall)

▲▼ illustration of portion o creeping root on mature plants

▲ whorled or dense alternately-arranged linear leaves

▲ flower detail

 

Asclepias pumila (Gray) Vail, Plains Milkweed: (Bayer Code:  ASCPM; US Code ASPU)

·         A creeping perennial milkweed that usually grows less than 1 foot tall, but can form large colonies due to creeping roots

·         Somewhat similar to whorled milkweed, but plains milkweed flowers are pink, and mainly a stem tips, rather than in leaf axils, as in the white flowers of whorled Milkweed

·         Leaves almost linear, alternate to in whorls around stems

·         Flowers small, pink to white, in globose clusters at tips of stems

·         Found in dry, rocky or sandy prairies in full sun

 

The “weediness” of milkweeds has been revisited due to them being the main food for monarch butterfly larvae; therefore, milkweeds no longer are being generally considered as weeds to eradicate, and actually have legal protection in some areas

 

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Updated 19 January 2019