Pokeweed Milkweed

(Asclepias exaltata)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of David S. Smith

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Pokeweed Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)

Identification: Flowers white, sometimes tinged with lavender or green. Family with a distinctive flower consisting of 4 petals hanging downward and a crown of 5 incurved horns. Flowers in clusters hanging downward. Leaves in opposite pairs, elongate, pointed at both the apex and the base. Fruit an elongate, pointed pod containing flattened seeds topped with silken parachutes. Stem and leaves with a milky sap. Plant 3 to 6 feet in height.

Distribution: Minnesota eastward to Maine and southward to Georgia.

Habitat: Pokeweed Milkweed is a woodland species.

Flowering period: June to August.

 

Pokeweed Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)

Similar Species:

The distinctive milkweed flower, its white color, and the hanging clusters of flowers should readily identify this species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species