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Asclepias curassavica
Also called Tropical milkweed, Bloodflower Milkweed, Scarlet Milkweed, Wild Ipecac, Ipecacuanha, Ipecacuanha Hippety Iguana, Ipecacuanha Hippetyiguana
In Singapore: Blood Flower, Cancerillo, Sunset Flower, Pleurisy Root, Cotton Bush, Red-head, Indian Root, Swallow Wort, Scarlet Milkweed, Matal, Bastard Pecacuanha, Milkweed, Silkweed, Mexican Butterfly Weed, 马利筋, 连生桂子花 (Naturalised in Singapore)
Bloodflower is a fast-growing, evergreen perennial subshrub of the milkweed genus, grown for its red, orange and yellow flowers that bloom almost year-round. It is grown in warm climates and is a food plant for monarch and other butterfly caterpillars, but it is toxic and its sap is irritating.
Asclepias curassavica, commonly known as tropical milkweed, is a flowering plant species of the milkweed genus, Asclepias. This species is one of two in the Asclepias genus considered a weed, the other being Asclepias fruticosa. It originated in South America and is now native to the American tropics and has a pantropical distribution as an introduced species. Other common names include bloodflower or blood flower, cotton bush, hierba de la cucaracha, Mexican butterfly weed, redhead, scarlet milkweed, and wild ipecacuanha.
Asclepias curassavica is grown as an ornamental garden plant and as a food source for some butterflies. There are a number of different cultivars with improved flower colors and shorter habit; some have bright red, yellow or orange colored flowers. The species is sometimes grown as a cut flower. However, when the stems or leaves are broken, milky sap exudes which can cause eye injury.
Cultivation of Asclepias curassavica may be harmful to the migration patterns of monarch butterflies when used in gardens outside of its native tropical range. Though public concern for the rapidly declining monarch population increased the demand and commercial availability of milkweed among nurseries in the US, the results have been mixed. While tropical milkweed may effectively sustain monarch larvae, the perennial growth of the plant takes ill effect on the monarchs' migratory patterns and may have other physiological effects. Use of the tropical milkweed in gardens has disrupted monarch migrations notably in California, Texas, Florida, and South Carolina.
Asclepias curassavica contains several cardiac glycosides, including asclepin, calotropin, uzarin and their free genins, calactin, coroglucigenin and uzarigenin. It also contains oleanolic acid, β-sitosterol, and glycosides of asclepin. The most abundant cardiac glycoside present in Asclepias curassavica leaves is voruscharin, which comprises around 40% of the total cardiac glycoside content in leaves. The sequenced genome of Asclepias curassavica provides insight into the biosynthesis of cardiac glycosides.
Asclepias curassavica is described by NatureServe as a "widespread species, ranging from southern North America through Central America and into South America."
Cartwheels · Whitestem milkweed · Spider milkweed · California milkweed · Heartleaf milkweed · Curtiss' milkweed · Woollypod milkweed · Desert milkweed · Poke milkweed · Mexican whorled milkweed · Florida milkweed · Swamp milkweed
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Asclepias curassavica 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.
