Red Milkweed

(Asclepias rubra)

 

Color Photograph: NRCS Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

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

 

Red Milkweed (Asclepias rubra)

Identification: Flowers purple-red or orange-red, arranged in small, terminal, rounded clusters. Family with a distinctive flower consisting of 4 petals hanging downward and a crown of 5 incurved horns. Fruit an elongate, pointed pod containing flattened seeds topped with silken parachutes. Leaves and stem with milky sap. Leaves broad at base, tapering to an acute apex. Plant 2 to 4 feet in height.

Distribution: Found along the eastern coastal plain from Long Island to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas.

Habitat: Red Milkweed is found in swamps, bogs, and pine barrens.

Flowering period: June to July.

 

Red Milkweed (Asclepias rubra)

Similar Species:

The combination of the reddish flowers, tapering leaves, and coastal habitat is usually enough to identify this species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species