BROAD-LEAF MILKWEED
File Size: 130 KB
 
Asclepias latifolia   (Torr. ) Raf.
Reno County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 8-23 inches
Family: Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family
Flowering Period:   July, August, September
Stems: Erect, usually simple; plants glabrescent or slightly tomentose, glaucous with age; sap milky.
Leaves: Opposite; petiole less than 1/5 inch; blade broadly obovate to oblong or nearly round, 3 to 5 inches long, 2.5 to 4 inches wide, margins undulate, tip rounded or notched.
Inflorescences: Cymes, 2-10, terminal and axillary, umbel-like, 30-55-flowered.
Flowers: 2/5 to 3/5 inch; calyx lobes ovate-lanceolate, 1/8 to 1/6 inch; corolla pale green, lobes 5, reflexed, elliptic-lanceolate, 1/4 to 2/5 inch; hoods 5, white or greenish white, ascending or strongly ascending, 1/8 to 1/6 inch, margins entire, apex truncate to retuse; horns broadly sickle-shaped, attached to hoods their full lengths, arching over anther head.
Fruits: Pods, broadly spindle-shaped, 2.4 to 3.1 inch long, .6 to 1.2 inch wide, smooth, nearly glabrous; seeds elliptic, 1/4 to 1/3 inch; tufted with tan hairs .8 to 1.2 inch long.
Habitat: Gravelly to sandy mixed-grass and shortgrass prairies.
Distribution: West 1/2 of Kansas
Origin: Native
Comments: Asclepias (for Aesculapius, Greek god of medicine) and latifolia (broad + leaf).

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