North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Asclepias syriaca

Asclepias syriaca L.

common milkweed

Synonym(s): Asclepias intermedia, Asclepias kansana, Asclepias syriaca var. kansana

Image ID: 24547
Image by: Cressler, Alan M.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ASSY
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Asclepias syriaca
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-09-16

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ASCLE
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Asclepias
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Milkweed
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 100 species, herbs, temperate and tropical, of North and Central America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Woodson (1954)=Z; Turner (2009b)=Y; Farmer & Bell (1985)=X.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: APOCYN
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Apocynaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Dogbane Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: A conspicuous, coarse perennial that forms large colonies in unmowed fields, pastures, roadsides and other disturbed areas.
STEMS: Stem stout, unbranched, often furry; leaks milky sap when bruised.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, short-petiolate, oval to oblong, 6–9 in. long, with a reddish central vein, soft-hairy beneath.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers on long stalks that often droop, in a globe-shaped terminal umbel and a few upper axillary umbels; fragrant, pale-purple to rose-colored, with 5 strongly reflexed corolla lobes and a central crown--composed of 5 2-parted appendages (“hood” and “horn”)--surrounding a complex structure of fused anthers and style.
FRUITS: Fruit a warty, somewhat furry, oval follicle containing tufted seeds.
COMMENTS: This species, a well-known Monarch host plant, is apparently expanding its range southward.
HEIGHT: 3-6 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: June-August

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
				x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Pale purple to rose

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x		x						x

FRUITING PERIOD: July-Sept.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed
NATIVE RANGE: eastern North America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Common milkweed is the most substantial of our native milkweeds. It is a great host plant for monarch larvae and a nectar source for adult butterflies. It is also showy, both in flower and in fruit. Large round clusters of dusty pink flowers are followed by large warty pods trailing delicate milkweed fluff. It is drought tolerant, and works well in a loose or wild landscape like a meadow or woodland edge. Individual plants are large and are likely to form colonies. Milkweeds support up to 12 species of lepidoptera.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE: 2
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
421	SOS	2015-09-02	Faucette	View
576	SOS	2015-10-20	Dakar	View
583	SOS	2015-10-21	Heraty	View
719	SOS	2016-09-20	Flood	View
727	SOS	2016-09-19	Dakar	View
740	SOS	2016-09-21	Faucette	View
802	SOS	2016-10-05	Healy	View
932	SOS	2017-09-06	Healy	View
1096	HORT	2006-08-24	Liloia	View
1354	HORT	2006-10-04	Bryan	View
1433	HORT			View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
4316	1992-0472			View
5239	1995-0358			View
5453	1995-0576			View
8752	2006-0637	2006-12-18		View
9137	2006-0638	2006-12-18	1433	View
9639	2023-0091	2023-06-09	0	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
6644	4316	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7692	5239	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7967	5453	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
11991	8752	139	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11992	9137	138	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11993	9137	140	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12970	0	198	MacIntyre	0000-00-00	View
13795	9639	96	Briggs	2023-04-27	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ASSY
USDA Common Name: Common Milkweed
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (MB, NB, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	UPL		FACU		FACU	UPL		FACU	UPL	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Asclepias syriaca
COMMON NAME: Common Milkweed
SYNONYMY: [= C, K, Pa, RAB, S, Va, W, Z; > Asclepias syriaca var. syriaca - F, G, Il]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Aug; Jul-Sep.
HABITAT: Pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas.
COMMENTS: NB and ME west to s. MB and ND, south to SC, GA, c. TN (Chester, Wofford, & Kral 1997), AR, OK, and KS. This species is apparently expanding its range southward; see Wyatt et al. (1993) and Wyatt (1996) for discussion.
RANGE MAP: Asclepias syriaca.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Apocynaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Dogbane Family)
SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Asclepias L. (Milkweed)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 100 species, herbs, temperate and tropical, of North and Central America.
REFERENCE: Woodson (1954)=Z; Turner (2009b)=Y; Farmer & Bell (1985)=X.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Asclepias syriaca in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Asclepias syriaca in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Asclepias syriaca in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Asclepias syriaca in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Asclepias syriaca in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Asclepias syriaca

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 24547 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 8781 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 8782 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 12303 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)