Asclepias erosa Torr.
Desert milkweed
Desert milkweed is native to northern Baja California, southern California, and Arizona.
Plants: Single, erect, yellow-green stems, to 3½′ (1 m) in height, rarely approaching 6½′ (2 m).
Leaves: Leaves are a pale whitish green color, sometimes darker green, with prominent white veins. They are opposite, and vary from hairless to very hairy. Leaves are often curled, with wrinkled edges, and are lanceolate to ovate.
Flowers: Flowers are cream-colored to yellowish or greenish, forming roughly spherical umbels about 1½–3½″ (3.8–8.9 cm) in diameter. Each flower has 5 petals, which open fully and may be bent back (reflexed). Fully opened, the flowers are about ⅜″ (9.5 mm) around. The reproductive parts of the flower form a second star-shaped structure in the center. Flowers appear from April to July.
Fruits: Oval-shaped, sharp-tipped capsules, 2½–3½″ (7–9 cm) long, containing seeds with long, silken parachutes.
Habitats: Dry slopes, roadsides, and washes, at elevations below 5000′ (1.5 km), in full sun.
Edibility: Milkweed stems contain a thick latex sap that some indigenous peoples roasted, producing a kind of chewing gum.
Online References:
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 14 × 9″ (34 × 24 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (34 × 43 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 10 × 14″ (25 × 35 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 17 × 11″ (42 × 28 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm) 
5/4/2018 · Amboy Road, California · ≈ 1 × 1′ (39 × 34 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Gentianales | Gentians, coffee, gardenias, frangipani, many others |
| Family | Asclepiadaceae | Includes some herbs, twining shrubs, lianas, leafless stem succulents, rarely trees |
| Genus | Asclepias | For Asklepios, the Greek god of healing |
| Species | erosa | Jagged or bitten off at the edges, as if irregularly gnawed, referring to the ruffled, saw-edged leaf margins |
Asclepias erosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.