Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias purpurascens
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Purple Milkweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
See diagrams of milkweed flower structure at Wayne's Word.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias purpurascens
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-013:
Asclepias purpurascens FAMILY Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias purpurascens
COMMON NAME:
Purple Milkweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_aspu2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_aspu2_005_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_purpurascens
May
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_purpurascens_16
May
Upper leaf surface dark green, w red midvein & conspicuous pale vein pattern, per Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_purpurascens_b
May
Petals down-curved, hoods erect, horns sharply pointed & shorter than hoods, per Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_purpurascens_20
June
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_a_purpurascens_1
June Orange County NC
North Carolina Botanical Garden
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_a_purpurascens_2
June Orange County NC
North Carolina Botanical Garden
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias purpurascens
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias purpurascens
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-013:
Asclepias purpurascens
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias purpurascens
1879
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Openings in moist bottomlands and swamp forests, prairies and meadows (rich, wet to mesic), woodlands, perhaps mostly on soils derived from mafic or calcareous rocks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Deep rose
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed corolla, lobes reflexed
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Flowers in 1-3 umbels, terminal & from upper leaf axils
FRUIT:
Follicle
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p262
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p051
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p363
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p069
- Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006) p110
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p192
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p228
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p128
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
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