Asclepias

Asclepias subsp. var.
	Habit: [[Category:]] Height: ⇕ to Width: ⇔ to Height: ⇕ The wikipage input value is empty (e.g. <code>SomeProperty::, [[]]</code>) and therefore it cannot be used as a name or as part of a query condition. to The wikipage input value is empty (e.g. <code>SomeProperty::, [[]]</code>) and therefore it cannot be used as a name or as part of a query condition. Width: ⇔ The wikipage input value is empty (e.g. <code>SomeProperty::, [[]]</code>) and therefore it cannot be used as a name or as part of a query condition. to The wikipage input value is empty (e.g. <code>SomeProperty::, [[]]</code>) and therefore it cannot be used as a name or as part of a query condition. Lifespan: ⌛ Origin: ✈ Poisonous: ☠ Bloom: ❀	Exposure: ☼ Water: ◍ Features: ✓ Hidden fields, interally pass variables to right place Minimum Temp: ☃ °F USDA Zones: to Sunset Zones: Flower features: ❀
	[[]] > Asclepias var. , If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!

Asclepias L. (1753), the milkweeds, is a genus of herbaceous perennial, dicotyledonous plants that contains over 140 known species. It previously belonged to the family Asclepiadaceae, but this is now classified as a subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family Apocynaceae.

Milkweeds are an important nectar source for bees and other nectar seeking insects, and a larval food source for monarch butterflies and their relatives, as well as a variety of other herbivorous insects (including numerous beetles, moths, and true bugs) specialized to feed on the plants despite their chemical defenses. Milkweed is named for its milky juice, which contains alkaloids, latex, and several other complex compounds including cardenolides. Some species are known to be toxic.

Carolus Linnaeus named the genus after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, because of the many folk-medicinal uses for the milkweed plants.

Pollination in this genus is accomplished in an unusual manner. Pollen is grouped into complex structures called pollinia (or "pollen sacs"), rather than being individual grains or tetrads, as is typical for most plants. The feet or mouthparts of flower visiting insects such as bees, wasps and butterflies, slip into one of the five slits in each flower formed by adjacent anthers. The bases of the pollinia then mechanically attach to the insect, pulling a pair of pollen sacs free when the pollinator flies off. Pollination is effected by the reverse procedure in which one of the pollinia becomes trapped within the anther slit.

Asclepias species produce their seeds in follicles. The seeds, which are arranged if overlapping rows, have white silky filament-like hairs known as pappus, silk, or floss. The follicles ripen and split open and the seeds, each carried by several dried pappus, are blown by the wind.

Milkweeds use three primary defenses to limit damage caused by caterpillars: hairs on the leaves, cardenolid toxins, and latex fluids. Data from a DNA study indicates that more recently evolved milkweed species utilize less of these preventative strategies, but grow faster than older species; potentially regrowing faster than caterpillars can consume them.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Asclepias (ancient Greek and Latinized name). Asclepiadaceae. Milkweed. Silkweed. Perennial milky-juiced herbs, sometimes used in the hardy border or wild garden. Erect, with deep thick and hard perennial roots: Lvs. opposite or verticillate (rarely alternate), entire: fls. gamopetalous, the corolla segms. generally strongly reflexed; stamens 5, attached to the corolla, the anthers more or less united about the stigma; between the corolla and the stamens is a crown of 5 cornucopia-like horns or appendages; pollen cohering into a waxy mass (pollinium) which is removed bodily by insects that visit the fl.: fr. 2 warty, or echinate or smooth follicles. The pollination of an asclepias fl. is shown in Fig. 398. The pollen-masses are usually twin (as at 6), and the handle or caudicle lies in a chink on the side of the stigma. The pollen-masses become attached to the legs or mouth parts of the insect, and are thereby transferred to another fl.—The milkweeds are common in waste places in N. Amer., and are rarely cult. About 80 species are known, mostly North American, but others in Cent, and S. Amer. and Afr. Several species (described below) have been offered by dealers in native plants. The butterfly-weed and some others are very showy and worthy of more general attention. The large-lvd. kinds are desirable when heavy foliage effects are wanted. They are all perennials of the easiest cult. Prop, by division, rarely by seeds. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Describe the plant here...

Species

Some Asclepias species:

	Asclepias albicans	Whitestem milkweed
	Asclepias amplexicaulis	Blunt-leaved milkweed
	Asclepias asperula	Antelope horns
	Asclepias californica	California milkweed
	Asclepias cordifolia	Heart-leaf milkweed
	Asclepias cryptoceras	Pallid milkweed
	Asclepias curassavica	Scarlet milkweed, Tropical milkweed, Bloodroot, Bloodflower, Bastard Ipecacuanha
	Asclepias eriocarpa	Woollypod milkweed
	Asclepias erosa	Desert milkweed
	Asclepias exaltata	Poke milkweed
	Asclepias fascicularis	Narrow leaf milkweed
	Asclepias fruticosa syn. Gomphocarpus fruticosus	swan plant, African milkweed
	Asclepias humistrata	Sandhill milkweed
	Asclepias incarnata	Swamp milkweed
	Asclepias lanceolata	Lanceolate milkweed
	Asclepias linaria	Pine needle milkweed
	Asclepias linearis	Slim milkweed
	Asclepias meadii	Mead's milkweed
	Asclepias nyctaginifolia	Mojave milkweed
	Asclepias obovata	Pineland milkweed
	Asclepias physocarpa	Gomphocarpus physocarpus, commonly balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, giant swan plant, testicle tree, bishop's balls or swan plant
	Asclepias purpurascens	Purple milkweed
	Asclepias quadrifolia	Four-leaved milkweed
	Asclepias rubra	Red milkweed
File:Asclepiassolanoana.jpg	Asclepias solanoana	Serpentine milkweed
	Asclepias speciosa	Showy milkweed
	Asclepias subulata	Rush milkweed(Leafless milkweed)
	Asclepias sullivantii	Sullivant's milkweed
	Asclepias syriaca	Common milkweed
	Asclepias tuberosa	Butterfly weed, Pleurisy root
	Asclepias variegata	White milkweed
	Asclepias verticillata	Whorled milkweed
	Asclepias vestita	Woolly milkweed
	Asclepias vincetoxicum
	Asclepias viridiflora

Gallery

• 
  photo 1
• 
  photo 2
• 
  photo 3

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Asclepias. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Asclepias QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)