Asclepias viridiflora (Green Milkweed) - photos and description
General: Plants with a decumbent to upright growth habit, typically having 1 to 3 stems from the crown. Stems simple, puberulent to tomentose.
Flowers: Flowers are in dense umbels growing from leaf axils. Individual flowers 1 cm long and greenish yellow in colour.
Leaves: Leaves opposite, lanceolate to elliptical, we measured a leaf at 5.5 cm long (including petiole) and 2.5 cm wide. Leaves are wavy margined, waxy to touch, and thick. Leaves top and bottom covered in short hairs.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 120 cm. We measured plants to 32 cm tall, and stems 32 cm long.
Habitat: Habitat is dry and sandy soil in our grasslands.
Abundance: Listed as common in Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan, uncommon in our experience.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: We took the above photos on July 5th and 9th on prairie hillsides, Qu'Appelle Valley, 30 km north and 80 km northwest of Regina, SK, and, July 8th, and July 12th sand dune habitat in Douglas Provincial Park, about 200 km northwest of our home in Regina, SK.