Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Key identifying factors:

Short leaves stalked and oval; Pods with a warty surface; Flowers fragrant; Horns curved; Opposite leaf arrangement

Milkweed is commonly found in fields and along roadsides (Newcomb & Morrison, 1989). They get their name from their latex, a milky substance. In the late fall/early winter the follicles open up dispensing windborne seeds. The plant contains cardiac glycosides, allied to digitalins used in treating some heart diseases (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin, 2021). These glycosides, when absorbed by monarch butterfly larvae whose sole source of food is milkweed foliage, make the larvae and adult butterflies toxic to birds and other predators.

2021. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin. [online] Wildflower.org. Available at: <https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ASSY> [Accessed 29 August 2021].

Field Guide Used: Newcomb, L. (1989). Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown, and Company.