Chiba University Matsudo/Kashiwa Campus Plant Database

ID: 107

Genus ja:

Genus en: Milkweed, Silkweed

# spp.: N/A (from genus_families table) | 5 (from names table)

Accepted: Accepted

Family: Apocynaceae

Family ja: キョウチクトウ

Infra familial classification:

Distribution en:

Description en: Genus of about 110 species of evergreen or deciduous, clump-forming, some-times spreading perennials, and a few subshrubs and shrubs, mainly from well-drained soils in scrub or grassland, some from marsh, wet scrub, and lakeside areas, in South Africa, temperate North America, and tropical North and South America. They have simple, narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped or ovate, opposite or alternate, sometimes spirally arranged leaves and umbel-like cymes of numerous small flowers, to 2.5cm (1in) across. The corolla lobes reflex to display the unusual, upright, horn-like, staminal appendages. The flowers are followed by pairs of spindle-shaped green fruits, variable in length, which ripen to yellowish brown, and split open to expose rows of seeds with long, silky white hairs, giving rise to the common name, silkweed. Asclepias are attractive to bees and are showy plants for a border or wildflower garden. In frost-prone areas, grow tender species in a cool or temperate greenhouse. Contact with the milky sap may irritate skin.

Hardiness en: Fully hardy to frost tender.

Cultivation en:

Propagation en: Sow seed of tender species at 16-18°C (61-64°F) in late winter. Sow seed of perennials in containers in a cold frame in early spring, or divide in spring. Root basal cuttings in spring.

Pests en: Whiteflies may be a problem under glass.

Description ja:

Comment: America, espesially U.S.

Comment ja: トウワタ，フウセントウワタ

Type species:

Phylogenetic definition:

Update information: Created: 2007-12-06 12:51; Updated: 2026-03-03 21:57