Common Name(s):

Carolina milkweed

 

Scientific Name:

Asclepias cinerea

 

Native Range:

AL, FL, GA, MS, SC

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USDA Symbol:

ASCI5

 

Habitat: 

• longleaf pine sandhills

• wiregrass-dominated understory

 

Growing Conditions:

• well-drained upland soils

• full sun to filtered shade

 

Plant Height:
24 inches (60 centimeters)

 

Stem Description:

• thin

• smooth

 

Leaf Description: 

• narrow, linear leaves

• 2-4 inches (5-10 centimeters) long

• grasslike in appearance

 

Leaf Arrangement:

• opposite

 

Leaf Margin:

• entire

 

Leaf Surface:

• smooth (not hairy)

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Flowering Period: 

• May through September

Flower Description:

• lavender, pale purple to grayish white

• sparse, loosely arranged flowers that droop when in bloom

• 0.5 inch (1.25 centimeters)

• reflexed corolla (petals)

• sepals open into a starlike pattern, do not reflex backwards

• erect hoods contain incurving horns

 

Pod Description:

• long and linear

• smooth

• up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) long

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Other Information:

• this species is difficult to spot among the grassy areas where it typically grows, but is obvious when in bloom

 

Similar Species: Southern milkweed (Asclepias viridula)