Slimleaf milkweed

Description

The most spidery of Minnesota's native milkweeds it could be more difficult to spot but for its austere habitat preference. Few-flowered umbels and long thread-like leaves present a delicate profile. A difficult task to find but for direct info on Minnesota's only known location-we walked right up to them. The steepness of the goat prairie and other attending flora in bloom, along with the breath-taking drop of the horizon into verdant valleys below, made for a spectabulus day. According to the DNR, the one known population of Narrow-leaved Milkweed in MN may have migrated here from natural species dispersion, rather than a remnant population from times past. It was added to the State Endangered List in 1984. All Asclepias were formerly in family Asclepiadaceae but have been reassigned to Apocynaceae (Dogbane).