Showy Milkweed
Asclepias speciosa
Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is a native perennial with milky sap, broad opposite leaves and round clusters of soft purple to bright pink flowers. It is listed in bloom in June and July at Devils Tower National Monument, and across much of South Dakota it grows on the banks of lakes, ponds and streams and in moist prairie. Photographed in the Black Hills.
Free photos from other sources
| Family | Apocynaceae · Dogbane |
|---|---|
| Status | Native perennial |
| Blooms | June and July |
| Height | 50–100 cm (20–39 in) |
| Where | Moist prairie, stream and pond banks, roadsides |
| Also called | Showy Butterfly Weed, Creek Milkweed |
| Toxicity | Poisonous to livestock, including sheep, cattle, horses, goats and poultry; it contains galitoxin and cardioactive glycosides. |
Roots, seeds & germination
Root: A deep rhizome (creeping underground stem) that lets it spread into colonies.
Seed: An erect pod, 7 to 11 cm long, holds seeds with white to brownish silky hairs that the wind carries. Collect unopened brownish pods that split when gently squeezed.
Germination: Seed needs 30 days of cold, moist treatment before spring planting. Fall-sown seed sprouts the next spring.
How do you identify Showy Milkweed?
Each flower has 5 light pink hoods about three times the length of the central column, with slender horns that curve inward but do not touch. Leaves are opposite, oval, up to 8 inches long, with a reddish midvein and a hairy underside. Common Milkweed is the usual look-alike, but its petal lobes are shorter and wider.
When does it bloom?
June and July.
Where does it grow?
Banks of lakes, ponds and streams and moist prairie areas across much of South Dakota. It also forms clumps along roadsides and in open fields and pastures.
Other flowers to compare
Sources: SDSU Open PRAIRIE: Asclepias speciosa; Minnesota Wildflowers: Asclepias speciosa (Showy Milkweed); National Park Service, Devils Tower: Wildflowers; Okanogan County, Washington: Showy Milkweed; USDA Plant Guide: Showy Milkweed.