Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - narrow-leaf milkweed

NARROW-LEAF MILKWEED

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Asclepias stenophylla A. Gray

Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 8-40 inches

Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family

Flowering Period: June, July, August

Also Called:

Narrow-leaved milkweed.

Stems:

Erect, solitary or occasionally paired, straight, slender, mostly simple, minutely pubescent above, nearly glabrous below.

Leaves:

Alternate to nearly opposite, simple, nearly sessile, narrowly linear, 1.5 to 7 inches long, less than .25 inch wide, minutely pubescent; margins entire, often rolling under; tips pointed.

Inflorescences:

Umbels, few to several, mostly sessile in upper leaf axils, 10-25-flowered.

Flowers:

5-parted, about 1/3 inch tall; calyx lobes lanceolate, green to purple-tinged, minutely pubescent; corolla lobes elliptic-lanceolate, pale greenish white to yellow, glabrous, bent abruptly downward; hoods narrowly oblong, white; tips appearing 3-lobed, middle lobe triangular, shorter than the 2 lateral lobes, representing horn.

Fruits:

Pods, spindle-shaped, 4 to 5 inches long, 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide, minutely pubescent to nearly glabrous, erect on downward-curved stalks; seeds egg-shaped, tufted with tan hairs at tips.

Habitat:

Sandy or rocky limestone prairies.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

The Lakota gave their children the root of narrow-leaved milkweed to stimulate their appetite.

Comments:

Formerly treated as Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed Family.

Narrow-leaf milkweed