Asclepias syriaca

Scientific Name: Asclepias syriaca

Common Name: common milkweed

Native Range: Eastern North America

Zone: 3 to 9

Plant type & Form: Herbaceous perennial

Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet

Spread: 0.75 to 1.00 feet

Bloom Time: June to August

Bloom Description: Pink, mauve, white

Flower: Domed, slightly drooping clusters (umbels) of fragrant, pinkish -purple flowers appear mostly in the upper leaf axils over a long bloom period from late spring well into summer

Seeds: Flowers give way to prominent, warty seed pods (2-4″ long) which split open when ripe releasing their numerous silky-tailed seeds for dispersal by the wind

Leaf: thick, broad-oblong, reddish-veined, light green leaves (to 8″ long)

Sun: Full

Water: Dry to medium

Soil type & pH: Does well in poor, dryish soil

Maintenance: Low

Suggested Use: Butterfly garden

Tolerates: Deer, Drought, Erosion, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil

Identification notes: Stems and leaves exude a milky sap when cut or bruised.