PLAINS MILKWEED
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| File Size: 116 KB |
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Asclepias pumila (A. Gray ) Vail
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| Comanche County, Kansas (photo by Phyllis Scherich) |
| Perennial |
| Height: 6-16 inches |
| Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family |
| Flowering Period: July, August, September |
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| Stems: | | Ascending to erect, simple or branched proximally. Plants puberulent to pubescent, not glaucous; sap milky. | | Leaves: | | Alternate; petiole absent; blade linear, 8 to 24 inches long, 1/50 to 1/25 inch wide, apex acuminate. | | Inflorescences: | | Umbel-like cymes, 1-12, mostly terminal, 5-20-flowered. | | Flowers: | | 1/5 to 1/3 inch; calyx lobes 5, lanceolate to triangular or oblong-elliptic, 1/12 to 1/10 inch; corolla white, occasionally tinged pink or yellowish green, lobes 5, reflexed, elliptic, 1/12 to 1/6 inch; hoods 5, white, occasionally tinged pink, strongly ascending to erect, 1/16 to 1/12 inch, margins entire, apex rounded; horns needle-like, 1.5-2 times as long as hoods, fused to lower 1/2 of hoods, arching over anther head; gynostegium stipitate, 1/25 to 1/8 inch long, 1/16 to 1/12 inch wide. | | Fruits: | | Follicles narrowly spindle-shaped, 1.6 to 3.2 inches long, 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide, smooth, minutely pubescent; seeds numerous, elliptic, 1/6 to 1/4 inch wide; tufted by white to tan silky hairs, 1/2 to 1 inch long. | | Habitat: | | Dry, rocky or sandy mixed-grass prairies, roadsides | | Distribution: | | West 2/3 of Kansas | | Origin: | | Native | | Uses: | | The Lakota took an infusion of leaves for diarrhea. | | Comments: | | Asclepias, for Aesculapius, Greek god of medicine and pumila, dwarf.
Asclepias was formerly listed in the family Asclepiadaceae, but Apocynaceae, the Dogbane Family, now includes Asclepiadaceae. |
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| Plains milkweed leaves |  | | 164 KB | | Russell County, Kansas |
| | Plains milkweed fruit |  | | 172 KB | | Russell County, Kansas |
| | Plains milkweed seeds |  | | 176 KB | | Russell County, Kansas |
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