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Asclepias elata

Asclepias elata Benth.

Nodding Milkweed, Tall Milkweed

Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed Family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: ASEL

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

"Herbs. STEMS erect, unbranched, 40-80 cm tall, glabrous to rather glaucous. LEAVES opposite or the bracteal leaves subtending the peduncles alternate, sessile, or the petioles to 2 mm long, the blades broadly oblong to ovate-elliptic, 3-16 cm long, (1-)2-7 cm broad, shallowly cordate and more or less clasping at the base, obtuse to rounded at the apex, apiculate, glabrous on both surfaces, glaucous beneath. UMBELS 1 to several, subterminal at the uppermost nodes, finely pubescent, 5-7 cm broad, the peduncles 3-15 cm long. FLOWERS large; calyx lobes 5-8 mm long; corolla green or with a touch of purple on the tips outside, tardily reflexed-spreading, the lobes 9-12 mm long; hoods yellowish with white margins, sessile and attached along almost the entire height of the column, ovoid-oblong and more or less "J"-shaped, horizontally spreading-saccate from the base, curved upward near the middle to an erect, truncate apex, ca. 4-5 mm long, 2-4 mm broad at the top, slightly shorter than the gynostegium, the horns radially flat, attached the full length of the hoods, triangular to sickle-shaped, mostly concealed within the hoods; anther wings 2.4-2.8 mm long; corpusculum 0.8-1 mm long, the pollinia 1.1-1.3 mm long. FOLLICLES erect on deflexed pedicels, 11-15 cm long. --Canyons, rocky stream beds, open woodlands, mts. of se AZ: Cochise, Gila, Graham, Pima, Santa Cruz, cos.; 1200-2150 m (3900-7100 ft); Jul-Sep; s NM, sw TX; Mex. to Guatemala." (Reslit: 3183).

Asclepias elata is widely misidentified in the US as A. glaucescens, a native of Mexico and Central America. (Reslit: 3184).