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Asclepias quadrifolia
Also called Whorled milkweed, Four-leaf Milkweed, Four Leaved Milkweed
Fourleaf milkweed is a small, slender native perennial of eastern North America, growing about 50 cm tall in dry, rocky woodland openings. It is grown mainly for its woodland habitat and milkweed interest, and is endangered in Ontario.
Asclepias quadrifolia, commonly called four-leaved milkweed or fourleaf milkweed, is a species of milkweed in the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family. It is sometimes referred to as whorled milkweed, but it should not be confused with Asclepias verticillata. A. quadrifolia occurs in the eastern United States and Canada.
Most Asclepias are toxic if consumed in large quantities due to cardiac glycoside and resinoid content.
A. quadrifolia is native in the United States from Kansas and Oklahoma in the west, to Mississippi and Alabama in the south, and New Hampshire in the north and east. It is an endangered species in Ontario. Unlike more commonly known species such as common milkweed or butterflyweed, fourleaf milkweed is a woodland denizen. It usually occurs in dry, rocky open forest. It is frequently found on upland slopes.
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 quadrifolia 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.
