The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Asclepias cryptoceras
Also called Humboldt milkweed, Humboldt Mountains Milkweed, Cow Cabbage, Davis' Milkweed, Jewel Milkweed
Pallid milkweed is a low, mat-forming perennial native to the dry Great Basin of western North America, grown mainly by gardeners who want a drought-tolerant native milkweed. It needs full sun and very well-drained soil, and it is not a typical container or houseplant.
Asclepias cryptoceras is a species of milkweed known by the common names jewel milkweed, pallid milkweed, Humboldt Mountains milkweed, and cow-cabbage. It is native to the Great Basin of western North America, where it grows in many types of habitat, especially dry areas. This is a perennial herb growing low against the ground or drooping. It arises from a fleshy, woody rhizome-like root. The thick leaves are round to heart-shaped and arranged oppositely on the short stem. The inflorescence is a cluster of small flowers with centers of bright to dull pink hoods surrounded by pale-colored reflexed corollas. The fruit is a follicle held erect on a small stalk.
The Northern Paiute used the plant as a medicinal remedy, preparing the roots for headache and sores, and the latex for ringworm.
Cartwheels · Cartwheels · Whitestem milkweed · Asclepias alpestris · Asclepias amabilis · Asclepias ameliae · Clasping milkweed · Arizona milkweed · Asclepias apocynifolia · Sand milkweed · Spider milkweed · Asclepias atroviolacea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Asclepias cryptoceras by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
