Purple milkweed

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Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed habit

Purple milkweed leaves

Purple milkweed habit

Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed fruit

Purple milkweed flowers

Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed

Purple milkweed leaves

Morphology

Stem

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.

Inflorescence

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

Flower

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.

Fruit

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.

Ecology

Habitat

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

Distribution

East 1/4 of Kansas

Practical Information

Uses

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

Additional Notes