Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias rubra
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Though there are relatively few flowers in each cluster, they are quite large for a milkweed... Each flower is bright pink to rose, to dull purple -- but nowhere near "red"! Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
See diagrams of milkweed flower structure at Wayne's Word.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias rubra
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-005:
Asclepias rubra FAMILY Asclepiadaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias laurifolia
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias rubra
COMMON NAME:
Purple Savanna Milkweed, "Red Milkweed", Bog Milkweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_asru_001_lvd
)
Alistair Glen gwn_asclepiasrubra
June Pender County NC
Growing Wild Nursery
)
JK Marlow jkm100612_004
June Mecklenburg County NC
UNCC McMillan Greenhouse
Pollinator at work.
)
JK Marlow jkm100612_008
June Mecklenburg County NC
UNCC McMillan Greenhouse
)
JK Marlow jkm100612_015
June Mecklenburg County NC
UNCC McMillan Greenhouse
Leaves sessile, lanceolate, cuneate to rounded at base, acuminate at apex, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm100612_018
June Mecklenburg County NC
UNCC McMillan Greenhouse
Strongly reflexed purplish-red/lavender corolla lobes & orange-tinged hoods, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Asclepias rubra
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Asclepias rubra
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-01-005:
Asclepias rubra
FAMILY
Asclepiadaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias laurifolia
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Asclepias rubra
3028
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: pocosin ecotones, wet pine savannas, seepage bogs in longleaf pine sandhills, seepage swamps, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon in Carolina Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
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 sessile
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Red/ Pinkish
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed corolla, lobes reflexed
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Flowers in 1-4 umbels, terminal & from leafy or leafless upper nodes
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Follicle
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p311
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p375
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p363
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p067
- Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006) p110
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p049
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p207
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".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".