Asclepias ovalifolia (Low Milkweed) - photos and description

 

 

General: A short Milkweed, rhizomatous, often found in colonies of many plants. Foliage exudes a milky sap when broken. Stems puberulent.

Flowers: Flowers are white and have 5 petals, flowers arranged in umbels. I measured flowers at 8 mm diameter and 11 mm long.

Leaves: Leaves are opposite, lanceolate to ovate, we measured a leaf at 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. Top of leaves are puberulent, bottom of leaves are pubescent.

Height: Is listed in Budd's Flora to 50 cm, we've measured plants to 40 cm.

Habitat: Prairie and the edges of aspen woodlands in southern Saskatchewan.

Abundance: Common.

Origin: Native.

When and where photographed: Took the above photos on June 19th, in the Souris River valley, 200 km south east of Regina, SK, and July 1st, in a forest meadow, Nisbet provincial forest, about 375 km north of our home in Regina, SK.