Biology:Asclepias albicans
| Asclepias albicans | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Genus: | Asclepias |
| Species: | A. albicans
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| Binomial name | |
| Asclepias albicans S.Watson
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Asclepias albicans is a species of milkweed known by the common names whitestem milkweed and wax milkweed. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of California , Arizona, and Baja California. This is a spindly erect shrub usually growing 1 to 3 meters (3 1⁄2 to 10 feet) tall,[1] but known to approach 4 meters. The sticklike branches are mostly naked, the younger ones coated in a waxy residue and a thin layer of woolly hairs. The leaves are ephemeral, growing in whorls of three on the lower branches and falling off after a short time. They are linear in shape and up to 3 centimeters (1 1⁄4 inches) long. The inflorescence is an umbel about 5 cm (2 in) wide[1] which appears at the tips of the long branches and sprouting from the sides at nodes. The inflorescence contains many purple-tinted greenish flowers, each about 1.5 cm (1⁄2 in) wide,[1] with a central array of bulbous hoods, and corollas reflexed back against the stalk. In its native range it is an evergreen perennial. The plant usually blooms all year long.[1] The fruit is a large, long, thick follicle which dangles from the branch nodes.
Asclepias albicans is a larval host for the monarch butterfly and the queen butterfly. [2] [3]
The similar A. subulata is found in similar regions.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Spellenberg, Richard (2001). National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. pp. 347–348. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3. https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00spel/page/347/.
- ↑ Morris, Gail M.; Kline, Christopher; Morris, Scott M. (2015). "Status of Danaus plexippus in Arizona". Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society (Southwest Monarch Study) 69 (2): 91–107. doi:10.18473/lepi.69i2.a10. https://www.swmonarchs.org/Top%20Ten%20Findings%20of%20Status%20of%20Danaus%20plexippus%20in%20Arizona.pdf.
- ↑ "great milkweed grow out". Desert Botanical Garden. https://dbg.org/partner-initiatives/great-milkweed-grow-out/.
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q2866401 entry
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