Asclepias variegata L.

White Milkweed; Red Ring Milkweed

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Red Ring Milkweed is a native herbaceous perennial in the Dogbane family (Apocynaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Red Ring Milkweed occurs in mesic to dry upland forests, in sandhills, and on roadsides. It is a perennial with a tap root. Stems are usually solitary, erect, 2-3 feet in height, and unbranched. The stems are green or reddish in color and slightly pubescent to glabrous. Leaves are petiolate, opposite, ovate to elliptic in outline, with entire margins. The leaves are glabrous or slightly pubescent on the upper surface. All parts of the plant exude a milky sap when injured. Flowers are produced in umbels of 15-35 flowers. The umbels are terminal or terminal and in the axils of the upper leaves. The individual flowers have a calyx with 5 lobes. There are 5 white lobes of the corolla that are reflexed. There is a purple-red ring between the corolla lobes and the corona (crown). The corona is composed of 5 hoods and 5 horns. The horns are shorter than the hoods and point towards the center of the flower. The flowers are slightly fragrant. The fruit is a follicle with many flat seed with a tuft of hair at their apex. Red Ring Milkweed is occasionally available from native plant nurseries or it can be grown from seed. The seed should be planted where they are to remain because they are difficult to transplant because of their long tap roots. Red Ring Milkweed is a larval food plant for the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).--A. Diamond

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Native FACU (NWPL)

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