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Western Whorled Milkweed

[Asclepias subverticillata (Gray) Vail]

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

▲▼mature plants with flowers

▲▼mature plants with flowers

▲▼mature plants with flowers

▼mature plants with flowers

▲ flowering stem showing the side branching common to the species (differs from less-branched whorled milkweed)

▲▼flowers

▲▼flowers

Asclepias subverticillata (Gray) Vail, Western Whorled Milkweed: (Bayer Code:  ASCSU; US Code ASSU2)

·         A creeping perennial with rhizomes, appearing similar to whorled milkweed

·         Differs from whorled milkweed in that the stems tend to have more branching in the upper portions on western whorled milkweed

·         Leaves are linear, in whorls around the stem at nodes

·         Flowers are greenish-white, in rounded clusters arising from leaf axils near tips of stems

·         Fruit is a slender pod

·         Sap is one of the more poisonous of milkweeds, and poisoning is more common with this species

·         Found in pastures, roadsides, reduced-tillage fields, in good, sandy or clay soils; tolerates wetter soils

·         More common in western Midwest; not in Missouri

 

 

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Updated 19 January 2019