Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PURPLE MILKWEED

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Asclepias purpurascens L.

Shawnee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 16-40 inches

Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Stems:

Erect, usually solitary, unbranched, stout, mostly glabrous but sometimes densely short-hairy above; latex white.

Leaves:

Opposite or rarely with whorl of 4, broadly lanceolate to less commonly ovate-oblong or elliptic, 1.6 to 9.2 inches long, .8 to 4 inches wide, ascending or spreading, upper surface nearly glabrous to sparsely short-hairy, lower surface moderately to densely short-hairy; margins entire, occasionally wavy; tip pointed to less commonly broadly rounded; stalk 1/3 to 1 inch long.

Inflorescences:

Umbels, 1-5, terminal and occasionally lateral in upper nodes, 12-50-flowered; stalk .2 to 3.6 inches long.

Flowers:

Stalk slender, .6 to 1.4 inches long, sparsely to densely soft-hairy; flower 1/2 to 3/5 inch tall; calyx lobes 5, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 1/10 to 1/6 inch long, green to purplish, moderately to densely short-hairy, bent abruptly downward; corolla lobes 5, ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 1/4 to 2/5 inch long, glabrous, deep rose or reddish-purple, bent abruptly downward; hoods much longer than column, lanceolate, united near base, 1/6 to 1/3 inch long, often wider near middle, erect or ascending, pale red or purple; margins in-rolled and fused at tip; horns short, sickle-shaped, united to lower half of hood, arching abruptly inward.

Fruits:

Pod, narrowly spindle-shaped, 4 to 6.4 inches long, .4 to .8 inch wide, finely pubescent to nearly glabrous, erect or ascending on downward-curved stalk; seeds many, broadly egg-shaped, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long, margins narrowly winged, tufted with silky white hairs.

Habitat:

Open deciduous woods, pastures, roadsides, bluff tops, open disturbed areas; dry rocky or sandy calcareous soils.

Distribution:

East 1/4 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Uses:

At one time, the milky latex was used to treat warts.

Comments:

Formerly treated as Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed Family.

Purple milkweed