Plains Milkweed
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.
(Updated January 19, 2019)