Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Spider antelopehorn

SPIDER ANTELOPEHORN

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Asclepias asperula (Decne. ) Woods. subsp. capricornu (Woods. ) Woods.

Mitchell County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 4-12 inches

Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Also Called:

Antelope horns.

Stems:

Decumbent to ascending, few to many, 6 to 24 inches long, radiating from crown, simple to sparingly branched, glabrous or minutely pubescent.

Leaves:

Mostly alternate, simple, short-stalked, firm, ascending to spreading, lanceolate, 1.5 to 8 inches long, .5 to 1.25 inch wide, nearly glabrous or sparsely pubescent; margins entire; tips pointed.

Inflorescences:

Umbels, solitary, sessile or short-stalked, subtended by 1-3 leaves, 9-34-flowered, terminal.

Flowers:

5-parted, 1/4 to 1/2 inch tall, on stout stalks 3/5 to 1 inch long; calyx lobes lanceolate to ovate, green to purple-tinged, minutely hairy; corolla lobes elliptic-lanceolate, pale yellowish green, glabrous, curved upward; hoods club-shaped, purplish; tips incurved, usually greenish cream; horns absent.

Fruits:

Pods, spindle-shaped, 1.5 to 5 inches long, 1/2 to 1 inch wide, minutely hairy, erect on downward-curved stalks; seeds egg-shaped, tufted with light tan hairs at tips.

Habitat:

Dry rocky or sandy prairie uplands.

Distribution:

Principally central 1/3 of Kansas.

Uses:

The Navajo used this plant to treat bites from rabid animals.

Comments:

The fruits resemble the horns of antelope as they elongate and begin to curve. Spider antelopehorn will ooze a milky fluid when injured. Formerly treated as Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed Family.

Resembles Spider milkweed Asclepias viridis.

Spider antelopehorn