Asclepias incarnata

Common Name: 
swamp milkweed
Scientific Name: 
Asclepias incarnata L.
Family Name: 
Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed Family
Identification Notes
Life Cycle
native perennial, reproducing by seed and creeping roots
Stems
upright, sturdy, single or multiple, branching above, green or brown sometimes purplish, mostly smooth and hairless with vertical bands of hairs extends down each side of stem below leaf junction, milky sap
Stems of Swamp Milkweed
Stems of Swamp Milkweed
Stems of Swamp Milkweed
Leaves
opposite sometimes whorled, lanceolate tapering to point with wavy edges, narrow, short petiole, keeled along mibvein, veiny below with leaf veins at sharp angle with midvein
Leaves of Swamp Milkweed
Leaves of Swamp Milkweed
Flowers
5-petaled, pink to rose-purple with crown sometimes cream, petals reflexed downward, fragrant, horns longer than hoods, axillary and terminal clusters
Flowers of Swamp Milkweed
Flowers of Swamp Milkweed
Seed Pods
upright pod, slender, tapering at both ends, fine pubescence, seed flat with tuft of silky hairs
Seedpods of Swamp Milkweed
Seedpods of Swamp Milkweed