Scientific Family
Asclepiadaceae
Synonyms
Asclepias macrosperma
Other common names
largeseed milkweed
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
Under 6 inches
Riparian
No
A loosely ascending to horizontally spreading plant with a deep root and 1 to several sparingly branched stems. Stems are 2 to 4 inches long. Plants have a milky white sap.
Vegetative parts have short curly hairs; leaves erect, sub-opposite to irregularly alternate, oblong, wrinkled on margins; head-like flower clusters, mostly more than 10 flowered, 5 green to purplish petals, white to yellow horn-like appendages.
Habitat
Sandy desert scrub, chaparral, grasslands, dry plains, mesas, and oak-pine woodlands, on flats and in arroyos.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
3500
High elevation
7000
Flower Characteristics
Greenish-white large showy clusters of flowers subtended by 1 to 4 bracts. The 5-parted flowers include sepals, petals, a crown (corona) arising from the middle of the petals, upright white to yellow hoods that look like petals and horns.
Flower color
Whitish, greenish to purplish, yellow
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
July
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Short hairs on leaves and stems. Leaves have wavy edges that appear white due to hairs. Leaves are mostly erect, subopposite to irregularly alternate with short stems. The leaves are wider at the base narrowing to a tip.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Grayish-green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Lobed
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Erect pods.
Fruit type
Pod
Fruit color
Green turning to brown
Fluffy silky tufts of hairs are attached to the round flat seeds.