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Asclepias purpurascens
Purple milkweed is a herbaceous perennial native to the eastern, southern and midwestern United States and southeastern Canada. It grows best in partial shade with moist soil, and its flowers open pink and mature to deep purple.
Asclepias purpurascens, or the purple milkweed, is a herbaceous plant species. It is in the genus Asclepias, making it a type of milkweed. It is native to the Eastern, Southern and Midwestern United States similar to the range of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). The plant gets its name from the flowers that first develop a pink color but then turn darker purple as they mature. Unlike common milkweed, purple milkweed prefers some shade and is considered a plant of partial shade. It is also considered an indicator of oak savanna, especially in Wisconsin. The species rarely produces seed pods which are smooth, instead of the rough warty ones produced by common milkweed.
Like other members of the milkweeds, several insects live off the plant, including the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), the milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetraophtalmus), large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus), small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmii) and milkweed leaf beetle (Labidomera clivicollis). Other insects and pollinators feed off the flower's nectar.
Cartwheels · Whitestem milkweed · Spider milkweed · California milkweed · Heartleaf milkweed · Bloodflower · Curtiss' milkweed · Woollypod milkweed · Desert milkweed · Poke milkweed · Mexican whorled milkweed · Florida milkweed
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Asclepias purpurascens 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.
