Family: Asclepiadaceae

Scientific Name: Asclepias verticillata

Common Name: Whorled Milkweed

Description

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) An interesting member of the Milkweed genus. Has thin linear leaves and small greenish-white flowers.

Plant TypeWild Flowers, Site author's observations
Hardiness Zone3
Sunlightfull
Moisturenormal, dry
Soil & Sitenormal, dry, rocky, along roads
FlowersSmall 1/8" greenish-white flowers in a flat cluster at the top. Flowers have five up-curving and five down-curving petals. Has a complicated polination process. Each tiny, flower has a small slit that allows the insects legs to slip inside. A pair of pollen sacs get attached and are carried to another flower, completing pollination.
Fruitseeds formed in a seed pod called a follicle, have an attached pappus
Leavessimple, narrow, linear, whorled around the stem
Stemsspreading rhizomes
Rootsdeep-rooted
Dimensionsup to 30 inches
Propagationseeds
Native Sitemost all of eastern North America and parts of western Canada and the United States
Misc FactsGenus name honors the Greek god Asklepios the god of medicine. The species name refers to the whorls of leaves. AKA: whorled milkweed, eastern whorled milkweed, or horsetail milkweed
Notes & Reference#41-Wildflowers of Wisconsin (Stan Teikiela), #144-Missouri Botanical Gardens web site (www.missouribotanicalgarden.org)
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