Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias syriaca
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Common Milkweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
See diagrams of milkweed flower structure at Wayne's Word.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias syriaca
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Asclepias syriaca
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-010:
Asclepias syriaca FAMILY Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias syriaca
COMMON NAME:
Common Milkweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969 mpa_page_069
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_asin13_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_assy_001_lvd
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_287
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_syriaca_common
May
Corolla lobes reflexed; corona horns more or less equaling the hoods, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_syriaca_common_2
June
)
JK Marlow jkm0407i_23
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm0507c_03
July Wise County VA
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0507c_19
July Fayette County WV
Canyon Rim Visitors Center
)
JK Marlow jkm0507i_10b
July Pocahontas County WV
Creekside/Riverside
)
JK Marlow jkm0507i_37
July Pocahontas County WV
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0507j_02
July Pocahontas County WV
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm200706_6467
July Spartanburg County SC
In cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm200706_6468
July Spartanburg County SC
In cultivation
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_syriaca_1384
July Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow s050709_a
July Wise County VA
Roadside
Leaves oblong to slightly oval, 4-6" long, acute at the tip, hairy beneath, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias syriaca
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias syriaca
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Asclepias syriaca
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-010:
Asclepias syriaca
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias syriaca
138
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Prairies, floodplains, pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Mountains & Piedmont of NC
Common in Mountains & Piedmont of NC (rare or waifs elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Summer
Rose/Greenish-white
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed corolla, lobes reflexed
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Flowers in 2-6 umbels from upper leaf axils
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Follicle
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p110
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p264
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p363
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p068
- Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006) p110
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p203
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p192
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p229
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p337
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p128
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