Common Name(s):

Curtiss's milkweed

Curtiss' milkweed

 

Scientific Name:

Asclepias curtissii

 

Native Range:

• Florida

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USDA Symbol:

ASCU8

 

Habitat: 

• oak habitats including Chapman, myrtle and live oak

• leached white sand scrub and sandhills

• Florida rosemary communities

• disturbed areas, particularly fire lanes and sand roads

 

Growing Conditions:

• excessively well drained, sandy soil

• partial to full sun

 

Plant Height:

• 2 -4 feet (0.6-1.2 meters) tall

• lanky

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Stem Description:

• slender

• smooth but occasionally hairy near leaf nodes

 

Leaf Description: 

• 1-2" long (cm)

• elliptic to oval

• dark green

• thick

 

Leaf Arrangement:

• opposite

 

Leaf Margin:

• usually wavy or undulating

 

Leaf Surface:

• dark green

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Flowering Period: 

• April through October

Flower Description: 

• white flowers

• usually located at the ends of the main stalks

• 20-30 individual flowers

• petals are green and reflexed 

• occasionally reddish purple lines on flowers

• elongated hoods that surround small, incurved horns

 

Pod Description:

• solitary (borne on stems singly or alone)

• narrow

 

Other Information:

• this is a rare species endemic to Florida's upland, sandy areas and was placed on the endangered-state species list

• threatened by fire suppression, sand mining and habitat loss 

• found throughout Florida in concentrated, but isolated areas

• not the most common food for monarch caterpillars, but they will feed off of it if the need arises

• pollinated mainly by skipper and hairstreak butterflies

• low levels of cardenolides in the sap, making it safe for deer to browse

• named after Allen Hiram Curtiss, a Virginian, who settled in Florida in 1875