Asclepias lanceolata
USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 3: 25.
What is Few Flowered Milkweed?
Other common spellings and names include: red milkweed.
Physical Characteristics
Leaves:
- Opposite
- Sword-shaped
- 2.75-9.84 inches long
- About 0.67 inches wide
Flowers:
- Grow in sets of 1 or 2
- Peduncles 0.59-3 inches long
- Moderately large
- Dull red in color
Fruit:
- Dry
- Open on only one side to release seeds when ripe
- 3.16-4 inches long
- About 0.39 inches thick
- Smooth
Seeds:
- Oval-shaped
- About 0.39 inches long
Stem:
- Slender
- Simple
- 1.75-3.25 feet tall
Where Does it Grow?
Few flowered milkweed is an obligate wetland plant for Gulf Coastal Prairie regions and can be found in brackish to freshwater marshes.
Bloom Color: Red , Orange
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul , Aug
Pros and Cons of Few Flowered Milkweed
Milkweed is the only plant eaten by Monarch butterfly caterpillars, one of the reasons their numbers are dropping is the loss of space for milkweed to grow due to mowing or pesticides.
Flowers are beneficial to native bees.
Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.