Tufted Milkweed

Description

Plant: perennial herb, diminutive, densely to sparingly wooly, the plant above ground level 3-12 cm tall; stems one to several from the base, erect or ascending Leaves: opposite, the petioles 1-7 mm long, the blades circular to broadly elliptic, 1.5-5 cm long, 1-5.5 cm broad, obtuse, rounded or subcordate at the base, obtuse to rounded or truncate at the apex, apiculate INFLORESCENCE: UMBELS lateral but overtopping the leaves and appearing terminal, 3-5 cm broad, the peduncles 2-8 cm long Flowers: small; calyx lobes 2-3 mm long; corolla purple-pink, the lobes 4-6 mm long; hoods pinkish to yellowish, erect-ascending, obovoid-triangular, widening upward to a truncate apex, 2.2-3 mm long along the dorsal surface, 1.6-2.2 mm broad at the top, about as long as the gynostegium, the horns radially flat, variably attached from the lower to the upper portion of the hoods, triangular to sickle-shaped, abruptly incurved and exserted ca. 1 mm; anther wings 1-1.2 mm long; corpusculum 0.2-0.3 mm long, the pollinia 0.5-0.6 mm long Fruit: FOLLICLES erect on deflexed pedicels, 4-6 cm long Misc: Oak and conifer woodlands, grasslands; 1200-1600 m (4000-5200 ft); Mar-May REFERENCES: Sundell, Eric. 1994. Asclepiadaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 169-187.