Family: Asclepiadaceae, Milkweed view all from this family

Description A tall, downy plant with slightly drooping purplish to pink flower clusters.
Flowers: 1/2" (1.3 cm) wide, with 5 downward-pointing petals and a conspicuous 5-part central crown; in clusters 2" (5 cm) wide.
Leaves: 4-10" (10-25 cm) long, opposite, broad-oblong, light green with gray down beneath, exude a milky juice when bruised.
Fruit: rough-textured pod that splits open on one side, filled with many overlapping seeds, each covered with tuft of silky hairs.
Height: 2-6' (60-180 cm).

Warning All plants in the genus Asclepias are probably somewhat toxic, some fatally so, to both humans and animals. The sap of some causes skin irritation in humans. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.

Flower June-August.

Habitat Old fields, roadsides, and waste places.

Range Saskatchewan to New Brunswick; south to Georgia; west through Tennessee to Kansas and Iowa.

Discussion This plant differs from Showy Milkweed (A. speciosa), in having an unbranched stem. The plant contains cardiac glycosides, allied to digitalins used in treating some heart disease. These glycosides, when absorbed by monarch butterfly larvae whose sole source of food is milkweed foliage, make the larvae and adult butterflies toxic to birds and other predators.