Prairie Milkweed, Hierba de Zizotes

Asclepias oenotheroides

Family: Asclepiadaceae

Plant Description: Perennial to 50 cm high with mostly upright stems. Leaves 5-12 cm long, ovate to oblong-lanceolate or elliptic, opposite. Flowers in umbels, the corolla lobes 8-10 mm long, pale green or whitish.

Plant Trivia: Fruit is called a schizocarp because it divides into two parts, each seeming to be a separate fruit.

Field Identification:

Occurrence: Frequenton various soils in prairies, openings and waste places, rather common on island dunes.

Bloom Period: March-November

Plant Use: Host plant to Queen butterflies.

Key to the 8 Asclepias species may be found in Plants of the Texas Coastal Bend by Roy L. Lehman, Ruth O’Brien and Tammy White.