Asclepias speciosa

Asclepias speciosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Asterids
Order:Gentianales
Family:Apocynaceae
Genus:Asclepias
Species: A. speciosa
Binomial name
Asclepias speciosa
Asclepias speciosa, West Eugene wetlands, Oregon

Asclepias speciosa is a milky-sapped perennial plant in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), known commonly as the showy milkweed.[1]

Habitat and range

This species is native to the western half of North America.

Growth pattern

This flowering plant is a hairy, erect perennial.

Leaves and stems

The large, pointed, elongate, simple, entire leaves are arranged oppositely on stalks.

Inflorescence and fruit

The eye-catching, hirsute, pale pink through pinkish-purple flowers occur in dense umbellate cymes. Their corollas are reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, form a star shape. The fruit is a large, rough follicle filled with many flat oval seeds, each with silky hairs.

This species flowers from May through September.[1]

Uses

Native Americans used fiber in the stems for rope, basketry, and nets.[1] Some Native Americans believed the milky sap had medicinal qualities, however, most species of milkweed are toxic.[1]

Butterflies and moths

Asclepias speciosa is a specific monarch butterfly food and habitat plant. Additionally, phenylacetaldehyde produced by the plants attracts Synanthedon myopaeformis, the red-belted clearwing moth.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 60.
  2. ↑ Eby, Chelsea; Gardiner, Mark G.T.; Gries, Regine; Judd, Gary J.R.; Khaskin, Grigori; Gries, Gerhard (2013-04-01). "Phenylacetaldehyde attracts male and female apple clearwing moths, Synanthedon myopaeformis, to inflorescences of showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 147 (1): 82–92. doi:10.1111/eea.12045. ISSN 1570-7458.
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