Poison Milkweed (Asclepias subverticillata)

   
 

Fig. 1. Flowers, Orogrande, Otero Co., New Mexico. Fig. 2. A ripe pod has opened, releasing the seeds attached to white fibers; some have already been wafted away by the breeze. El Paso, TX. Photographs by Wynn Anderson.

• Common English Names: Poison Milkweed
• Common Spanish Names:
• Scientific Name: Asclepias subverticillata (az-KLEP-ee-us sub-ver-ti-si-LAY-tah)
• Family: Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed Family)
• Geographic Range: Kansas to Idaho, south to Arizona, New Mexico, Trans-Pecos Texas, and northern Mexico.
• Plant Form: Herbaceous perennial, 2' to 3' H x 6" W.
• Remarks: Multiple slender, erect and ascending stems with whorls of linear leaves rise from stout semi-woody semi-rhizomatous rootstock. White to cream colored flowers produced in umbels along upper portion of the stems in summer. Milky-white sap is toxic to livestock, but the plant attracts butterflies. Low to medium water, full sun, loamy soil, very hardy.

Last Update: 29 May 2004