Asclepias viridis Walter

Green Milkweed; Green Antelope Horn

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Green Antelope Horn is a native herbaceous perennial in the Dogbane family (Apocynaceae). It is native to the Black Belt region of central Alabama, the Tennessee Valley, and other areas underlain by limestone. Green Antelope Horn occurs in prairies, in pastures, in cedar glades, on roadsides, and in other areas with basic soils. It is a perennial with a tap root. One to five decumbent or ascending stems are produced from each crown. The stems are thick, green or reddish brown in color, 12-30 inches in height, and glabrous. Leaves are alternate, elliptic to lanceolate in outline, short petiolate, entire or with wavy margins, glabrous, with a rounded tip. Flowers are produced in a terminal umbel. Individual flowers have 5 green corolla lobes and 5 purple hoods. Horns are lacking. The fruit is a follicle that splits to release flat, brown, round seed with a tuff of long white hairs that act as a parachute and aid in wind dispersal of the seed. Green Antelope Horn is a larval food plant for the Monarch Butterfly. It is available from companies that sell wildflower seed. The seedlings have long taproots and need to be planted in the garden or in deep pots. The seeds must be cold stratified or planted outside in the autumn. Green Antelope Horn requires full sun and a clay soil. It is drought tolerant and deer resistant. During World War II the seed of this and other common milkweed species were collected by school children for their white silky filaments or floss which were used as insulation in flight jackets.--A. Diamond

**

Native

**