OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias verticillata   FAMILY Apocynaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias verticillata   FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-003:

Asclepias verticillata   FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Asclepias verticillata

 

COMMON NAME:
Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_asve_001_lvd

        

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_289

        

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_a_verticillata_b

June        

Horns very narrowly triangular, much surpassing the hoods, per Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006).

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm130718_440

July    McDowell County    NC

Conspicuous whorls of linear leaves on a slender stem make this easy to ID, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230706_4311

July    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

Leaves 3-7cm long, 1-2mm wide, pubescent or glabrate, often revolute, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230706_4312

July    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

Stem pubescence in lines, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230706_4328

July    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230706_4329

July    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

The petals turned downward, the upright hoods topped by protruding horns, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230706_4335

July    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230706_4340

July    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

Beautiful, but not conspicuous...

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

Will Stuart    wil_8440701897_34aa2724ef

July    Anson County    NC

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

Will Stuart    wil_8447573271_aff39a84fe

July    Anson County    NC

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230808_4821

August    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230905_5281

September    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

JK Marlow    jkm230905_5281b

September    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Asclepias verticillata, Whorled Milkweed, Narrowleaf Milkweed

Steve Marlow    snm102712_009

October    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

Narrow spindle-shaped follicles, 2-3" long, dehiscent along 1 suture, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias verticillata   FAMILY Apocynaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias verticillata   FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-003:
Asclepias verticillata   FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias verticillata

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

2285

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: barrens, thin soils of rock outcrops (especially mafic or calcareous rocks), open woodlands, longleaf pine sandhills, pine flatwoods, road and powerline rights-of-way, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Piedmont (rare in NC Coastal Plain) (uncommon elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)

map
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
Mostly in whorls of 3-6 (sometimes opposite)

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Greenish-white petals often tipped with rose-purple
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual

Flowers in 2-8 umbels from upper leaf axils

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Follicle

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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