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Apocynaceae
Asclepias

not marked as a favorite taxon Asclepias amplexicaulis J.E. Smith. Common name: Clasping Milkweed, Sand Milkweed, Rabbit's-milk. Phenology: Mar-Sep; (Apr-) May-Sep. Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, barrens, sandy prairies, woodland margins, other dry woodlands of various types. Distribution: New Hampshire and New York west to Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas, south to c. peninsular. Florida, west to e. Texas.

Glossary (beta!)

ID notes: The flowers have a fragrance of cloves and roses. It has an erect stem growing to about 6-7 dm tall, with 4-6 pairs of opposite leaves, each pair widely separated from the next along the smooth stem and decussate (each pair turned by 90 degrees compared to the pair above and the pair below). The leaves are rather large and broadly elliptic to oblong, with a rounded tip and clasping bases, where the base meets the base of the other leaf in the pair and clasps the stem. The leaves are entire, but have distinctively strongly wavy margins, so that the leaf is clearly not in a flat plane. This species has only one flower cluster; the umbel is at the top of the stem, with a rounded cluster of a few dozen dull purple to greenish-purple flowers, fairly colorful but not as strikingly beautiful as in several other species.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, F, Fl5, FNA14, G, GrPl, Il, K1, K4, Mi, Mo2, NcTx, NE, NS, NY, Ok, Pa, POWO, RAB, S, Tat, Tn, Tx, Va, W, WH3, Woodson (1954). Basionym: Asclepias amplexicaulis J.E. Smith 1797

Links to other floras: = Asclepias amplexicaulis - FNA14

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Heliophily ⓘ: 8

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image #1 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Will Stuart | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Will Stuart | Original Image ⭷
image #4 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Joey Santore, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Joey Santore source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #6 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Bruce Sorrie
image #7 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Will Stuart | Original Image ⭷
image #8 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Bruce Sorrie
image #9 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Floyd A. Griffith | Original Image ⭷
image #10 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
image #12 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
image #13 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Bruce Sorrie
image #14 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #15 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Joey Santore, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Joey Santore source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #18 of Asclepias amplexicaulis© Joey Santore, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Joey Santore source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷

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Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro: Erect perennial of sandhills and other dry woodlands.

Stems: Stems stout, usually unbranched, smooth with a white-waxy coating; leaks milky sap when bruised.

Leaves: Leaves opposite (2-6 pairs), sessile and clasping, oblong or widely oval to elliptic, 3-5 in. long, with a pink midrib, wavy-margined, smooth and with a white-waxy coating.

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers (15-80) in a rounded, terminal umbel; smoky purple, about 1/2 in. long, consisting of 5 strongly reflexed pinkish-green corolla lobes and a central crown--composed of 5 2-parted appendages ("hood" and "horn")--surrounding a complex structure of fused anthers and style.

Fruits: Fruit an erect, spindle-shaped pod containing many tufted brown seeds.

Comments:

Height: 2-3 ft.

plant sale text: The flower clusters of the clasping, or sand milkweed are like those Styrofoam atomic model kits you might have put together for a school science project. Each pinkish purple tubular crown juts out from the reflexed green petals, all sit in a spherical orbit about a central point at the top of the stem. The large leaves are wavy with a pink midrib and clasp the stem. The fruit is a 4" long pod that will dry on the stem to release the tufted windblown seeds. This plant inhabits open woods, enjoys a sunny location with sandy, freely draining soil.

bloom table text:

description: Erect perennial of sandhills and other dry woodlands.

stems: Stems stout, usually unbranched, smooth with a white-waxy coating; leaks milky sap when bruised.

leaves: Leaves opposite (2-6 pairs), sessile and clasping, oblong or widely oval to elliptic, 3-5 in. long, with a pink midrib, wavy-margined, smooth and with a white-waxy coating.

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers (15-80) in a rounded, terminal umbel; smoky purple, about 1/2 in. long, consisting of 5 strongly reflexed pinkish-green corolla lobes and a central crown--composed of 5 2-parted appendages ("hood" and "horn")--surrounding a complex structure of fused anthers and style.

fruits: Fruit an erect, spindle-shaped pod containing many tufted brown seeds.

comments:

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range: eastern United States



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