NARROW-LEAF MILKWEED
File Size: 74 KB
 
Asclepias stenophylla  A. Gray
Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 8-40 inches
Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August
Also Called: Narrow-leaved milkweed.
Stems: Erect, solitary or occasionally paired, straight, slender, mostly simple, minutely pubescent above, nearly glabrous below.
Leaves: Alternate to nearly opposite, simple, nearly sessile, narrowly linear, 1.5 to 7 inches long, less than .25 inch wide, minutely pubescent; margins entire, often rolling under; tips pointed.
Inflorescences: Umbels, few to several, mostly sessile in upper leaf axils, 10-25-flowered.
Flowers: 5-parted, about 1/3 inch tall; calyx lobes lanceolate, green to purple-tinged, minutely pubescent; corolla lobes elliptic-lanceolate, pale greenish white to yellow, glabrous, bent abruptly downward; hoods narrowly oblong, white; tips appearing 3-lobed, middle lobe triangular, shorter than the 2 lateral lobes, representing horn.
Fruits: Pods, spindle-shaped, 4 to 5 inches long, 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide, minutely pubescent to nearly glabrous, erect on downward-curved stalks; seeds egg-shaped, tufted with tan hairs at tips.
Habitat: Sandy or rocky limestone prairies.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Uses: The Lakota gave their children the root of narrow-leaved milkweed to stimulate their appetite.
Comments: Formerly treated as Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed Family.

Narrow-leaf milkweed
103 KB
Riley County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed inflorescences
111 KB
Riley County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed inflorescence
94 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed
172 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed
49 KB
Woodson County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed
40 KB
Shawnee County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed
67 KB
Shawnee County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed flowers
85 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed flowers
105 KB
Ottawa County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed inflorescence
172 KB
Ottawa County, Kansas
Narrow-leaf milkweed inflorescence
118 KB
Ottawa County, Kansas