North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Asclepias incarnata

Asclepias incarnata L.

swamp milkweed

Cultivar(s): Ice Ballet, Soul Mate

Image ID: 19302
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ASIN
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Asclepias incarnata
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-09-25

CULTIVAR INDEX

Cult_id	Cultivar_name	Action
197	Ice Ballet	View
266	Soul Mate	View

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ASCLE
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Asclepias
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Milkweed
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 100 species, herbs, temperate and tropical, of North and Central America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Woodson (1954)=Z; Turner (2009b)=Y; Farmer & Bell (1985)=X.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: APOCYN
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Apocynaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Dogbane Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial of marshes, bogs, swamps and banks of streams and ponds.
STEMS: Stems solitary or clustered, branched above, smooth to hairy; leaks milky sap when bruised.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, petiolate, lance-shaped to linear-oblong, 2-6 in. long, smooth to hairy; exudes milky sap when bruised.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in umbels at stem and branch ends, dusty-pink to rose-purple (rarely white), fragrant, about 1/4 in. wide, consisting of 5 strongly reflexed corolla lobes and a central crown--composed of 5 2-parted appendages (“hood” and “horn”)--surrounding a complex structure of fused anthers and style.
FRUITS: Fruit a minutely hairy, spindle-shaped follicle containing tufted seeds.
COMMENTS: A host plant for Monarch butterflies. Two varieties are often recognized in our area: var. incarnata and var. pulchra. Consult the technical manuals in the Appendix for distinguishing characteristics.
HEIGHT: 3-6 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: July-Sep

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
						x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Pink

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
		x						x

FRUITING PERIOD: Aug-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bogs/pocosins, Bottomlands
NATIVE RANGE: most of continental U.S. & Canada

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Swamp milkweed’s fragrant dusty-pink flowers attract butterflies in droves. Each intricate flower has five delicately curved petals. Swamp milkweed grows on the banks of streams and ponds, and in flood plains. It tolerates a wide range of growing conditions varying from standing water to soils that never completely dry out. Over time, its shallow rootstocks will eventually colonize an area. Milkweeds are a host plant for Monarch butterflies and supports up to 12 species of lepidoptera.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
12	2017-0031	2017-11-06	14	View
195	2011-0006	2011-01-04	194	View
1237	1986-1008			View
2261	1986-2086			View
4855	1994-0064			View
6574	1996-0205			View
6628	1996-0265			View
8064	2004-0072	2003-07-31		View
8168	2004-0178	2006-05-19		View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
14	HORT	2015-01-01	Schubert	View
194	HORT	2004-10-06	Bryan	View
1355	HORT	2006-11-01	Bryan	View
1778	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
13	12	149	Briggs	2017-11-06	View
379	195	34	NCBG staff	2011-03-29	View
380	195	19	Heiney	2011-04-15	View
381	195	44	Liloia	2011-04-27	View
382	195	34	NCBG staff	2011-04-29	View
383	195	44	NCBG staff	2011-05-10	View
385	195	17	NCBG staff	2011-04-29	View
2140	1237	91	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
3928	2261	84	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3929	2261	91	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
7257	4855	27	NCBG staff	1994-06-01	View
9282	6574	142	NCBG staff	1996-11-12	View
9381	6628	8	NCBG staff	1996-03-05	View
11331	8064	142	Liloia	2003-07-31	View
11332	8064	139	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11333	8064	142	Liloia	2003-11-05	View
11422	8168	81	NCBG staff	2003-07-30	View
11423	8168	96	NCBG staff	2003-07-30	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ASIN
USDA Common Name: Swamp Milkweed
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY), CAN (MB, NB, NS, ON, PE, QC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	OBL		OBL		OBL	FACW		OBL	OBL	OBL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
COMMON NAME:
SYNONYMY:
PHENOLOGY:
HABITAT:
COMMENTS:
RANGE MAP:

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Apocynaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Dogbane Family)
SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Asclepias L. (Milkweed)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 100 species, herbs, temperate and tropical, of North and Central America.
REFERENCE: Woodson (1954)=Z; Turner (2009b)=Y; Farmer & Bell (1985)=X.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Asclepias incarnata in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Asclepias incarnata in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Asclepias incarnata in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Asclepias incarnata in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Asclepias incarnata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Asclepias incarnata

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19302 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19302 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 19302 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)