White Milkweed

(Asclepias variegata)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of T.G. Barnes

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

 

White Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

Identification:  Flowers white with a purple center. Family with a distinctive flower consisting of 4 petals hanging downward and a crown of 5 incurved horns. Flowers in an upright, rounded cluster. Fruit an elongate, pointed pod containing flattened seeds topped with silken parachutes. Stem and leaves with milky sap. Leaves ovate pointed at both the apex and the base. Plant 2 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Connecticut in the east, westward to Illinois and Missouri in the west, and southward to Florida and Texas.

Habitat: Found in dry, hilly woods.

Flowering period: May to July.

 

White Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

Similar Species:

The white flowers and ovate leaves are distinctive features of White Milkweed.

Pokeweed Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)

 Similar Species