Common Name(s):

fewflower milkweed

fewflowered milkweed

few-flower milkweed

red milkweed

purple silkweed

Cedar Hill milkweed

 

Scientific Name:

Asclepias lanceolata

 

USDA Symbol:

ASLA2

Native Range:

AL, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, SC, TN, TX, VA

 

Habitat: 

• fresh to brackish marshes

• wet pinelands

• moist ditches

• low glades

• savannas

• may be found growing in same habitat as salt marshmallow (Kostelezkya virginica)

 

Growing Conditions:

• full sun but may tolerate semi-shaded areas

• sandy or loamy low-nutrient soils

• both fresh and brackish (requires a lot of water)

 

Plant Height:
• 3-5 feet (1-1.5 meters) tall

 

Stem Description:

• smooth

• slender

• green to purplish

• branches near the top of plant

 

Leaf Description:

• linear to lance shaped

• acuminate apex

• short petiole or sessile

• blades may be curved upward from midvein

• wide spacing between pairs of leaves along stem

 

Leaf Arrangement:

• opposite

 

Leaf Margin:

• entire

 

Leaf Surface:

• hairless

• approximately 6 inches (15.25 centimeters) long

• approximately 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) wide

 

Flowering Period: 

• May through August

Flower Description:

• sparse heads of bright orangish to red flowers 

• 1-3 umbels that grow at the ends of stems

• hoods extend well above stigmatic disc

• horns are obvious and curved inward

 

Flower Color:

• corolla (petals) orangish red to reddish purple

• corona (horns and hoods) yellowish orange to reddish purple

 

Pod Description:

• long and slender

• mostly hairless

• erect and occur on deflexed pedicels

 

Other Information:

• special value to native bees and supports conservation biological control by attracting parasitoid insects that prey on pests

• was first described by Dr. Eli Ives in the neighborhood of Cedar Hill located in New Haven, CT, which is why one of the common names is Cedar Hill milkweed

• the species name lanceolata comes from the shape of the lance-shaped leaves