North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Asclepias verticillata

Asclepias verticillata L.

whorled milkweed

Image ID: 19310
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ASVE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Asclepias verticillata
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-11-20

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: Erect to ascending perennial found in barrens, sandhills, dry woodlands and on thin soils of rock outcrops, especially mafic rocks.
STEMS: Stem solitary, branched in upper portions, bearing vertical lines of hairs above; leaks milky sap when bruised.
LEAVES: Leaves in whorls of 3–6 (though opposite at some nodes), linear, 1-3 in. long, with margins noticeably rolled downward, sparsely hairy.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in small dense terminal and upper axillary umbels, white to greenish-white, about 1/3 in. long, consisting of 5 strongly reflexed green-suffused-with-purple corolla lobes and a whitish central crown--composed of 5 2-parted appendages (“hood” and “horn”)--surrounding a complex structure of fused anthers and style.
FRUITS: Fruit a narrowly spindle-shaped, erect follicle containing tufted seeds.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 8-24 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Whorled
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: May-Sep

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

BLOOM COLOR: White

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

FRUITING PERIOD: Sep-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Outcrops and glades, Sandhills, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern North America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Whorled milkweed is an attractive plant that is infrequently offered for sale by nurseries. Its white flowers and fine textured foliage make it a desirable garden plant and its predilection for thin soils makes it very drought tolerant. Over time, it can spread by rhizomes to form a nice clump. Milkweeds are best known as the larval host plants for Monarch caterpillars but they’re also popular with butterfly gardeners because they attract many pollinators and beneficial insects with their nectar. We’ve read that this species is more toxic than some of the other milkweeds and may be unattractive to deer.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 8
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
246	HORT	2009-11-30	Poythress	View
286	HORT	2009-01-01	NCBG staff	View
342	HORT	2010-11-17	Schubert	View
2073	NPMD	2020-10-19	Marzolf	View
2238	NPMD	2019-09-16	Touloupas	View
2282	NPMD	2019-10-14	Touloupas	View
2289	NPMD	2019-10-15	Touloupas	View
2378	NPMD	2019-12-03	Touloupas	View
2462	NPMD	2018-10-22	Kunz	View
2463	NPMD	2018-10-09	Kunz	View
2479	NPMD	2017-09-25	Kunz	View
2502	NPMD	2021-07-21	Marzolf	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
243	2011-0083	2011-04-28	246	View
281	2011-0138	2011-06-16	286	View
338	2011-0207	2011-10-14	342	View
5455	1995-0578			View
6629	1996-0267			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
554	243	41	NCBG staff	2011-04-21	View
555	243	41	NCBG staff	2011-05-16	View
672	281	21	NCBG staff	2011-04-08	View
814	338	41	Liloia	2011-10-04	View
815	338	16	Liloia	2015-06-01	View
7969	5455	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
9382	6629	8	NCBG staff	1996-03-05	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

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

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU		FACU		FACU	FACU		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 verticillata
COMMON NAME: Whorled Milkweed
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, G, Il, K, Pa, RAB, S, Va, W, WH3, Z]
PHENOLOGY: May-Sep; Sep-Oct.
HABITAT: Barrens, thin soils of rock outcrops (especially mafic rocks), thin woodlands, sandhills.
COMMENTS: E. MA west to ND and MB, south to s. FL, TX, NM, and AZ.
RANGE MAP: Asclepias verticillata.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 verticillata in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Asclepias verticillata in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19310 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 24559 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 12307 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)