Asclepias quadrifolia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Apocynaceae |
Genus: | Asclepias |
Species: | A. quadrifolia |
Binomial name | |
Asclepias quadrifolia Jacq. | |
Asclepias quadrifolia, commonly called four-leaved milkweed [1] or fourleaf milkweed, [2] is a species of milkweed in the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family. It is sometimes referred to as whorled milkweed, [3] [4] but it should not be confused with Asclepias verticillata . A. quadrifolia occurs in the eastern United States and Canada.
Fourleaf milkweed is a perennial herb with an upright stem growing from a fleshy rhizome. The stem has a milky sap. [3] The plant is small and slender compared to other milkweeds at only 50 centimetres (20 in) tall. [5] Leaves are usually elliptic to ovate and 2.5–12.0 centimetres (1.0–4.7 in) long and 1–6 centimetres (0.4–2.4 in) wide. [6] Leaves are opposite and appear in 3 to 4 sets on the stem, with one of the higher sets having 4 leaves arranged in a whorl (giving the plant its common name) and the other sets consisting of only 2 leaves. [7]
Pale pink to white flowers are borne in 1 to 3 rounded, usually pendulous clusters, or umbels from the leaf axils and terminus.
The fruit is a follicle or pod that is very slender, 8.1–14.2 centimetres (3.2–5.6 in) long and 0.6–0.8 centimetres (.25–.3 in) thick, lacking tubercles, minutely hairy to glabrous. The seeds are broadly oval with a length up to 0.8 centimetres (.3 in). They are tufted with white to tan hairs at their tips. [8]
A. quadrifolia is native in the United States from Kansas and Oklahoma in the west, to Mississippi and Alabama in the south, and New Hampshire in the north and east. It is an endangered species in Ontario. [4] Unlike more commonly known species such as common milkweed or butterflyweed, fourleaf milkweed is a woodland denizen. It usually occurs in dry, rocky open forest. It is frequently found on upland slopes. [9]
Flowers bloom from May to July. [3] Insects that take nectar from the plant include bumblebees and other bees, wasps, ants, flies, and butterflies. The caterpillars of the monarch butterfly feed on the foliage.
A. quadrifolia was listed as an endangered species in Ontario in 2010. Only 2 populations are known to remain in the province, both in Prince Edward County. [10] The plant is also listed as endangered in New Hampshire and threatened in Rhode Island. [11] [4]
Most Asclepias are toxic if consumed in large quantities due to cardiac glycoside and resinoid content. [12]
Fourleaf milkweed is rare in cultivation. [13]
Asclepias tuberosa, commonly known as butterfly weed, is a species of milkweed native to eastern and southwestern North America. It is commonly known as butterfly weed because of the butterflies that are attracted to the plant by its color and its copious production of nectar.
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch is a milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is amongst the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in). A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing.
Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. It is native to southern Canada and much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding the drier parts of the prairies. It is in the genus Asclepias, the milkweeds. It grows in sandy soils as well as other kinds of soils in sunny areas.
Asclepias incarnata, the swamp milkweed, rose milkweed, rose milkflower, swamp silkweed, or white Indian hemp, is a herbaceous perennial plant species native to North America. It grows in damp through wet soils and also is cultivated as a garden plant for its flowers, which attract butterflies and other pollinators with nectar. Like most other milkweeds, it has latex containing toxic chemicals, a characteristic that repels insects and other herbivorous animals.
Asclepias curassavica, commonly known as tropical milkweed, is a flowering plant species of the milkweed genus, Asclepias. It is native to the American tropics and has a pantropical distribution as an introduced species. Other common names include bloodflower or blood flower, cotton bush, hierba de la cucaracha, Mexican butterfly weed, redhead, scarlet milkweed, and wild ipecacuanha.
Asclepias verticillata, the whorled milkweed, eastern whorled milkweed, or horsetail milkweed, is a species of milkweed native to most of eastern North America and parts of western Canada and the United States.
Asclepias fascicularis is a species of milkweed known by the common names narrowleaf milkweed and Mexican whorled milkweed. It is a perennial herb that grows in a variety of habitats.
Asclepias californica is a species of milkweed known by the common name California milkweed. It grows throughout lower northern, central and southern California.
Asclepias speciosa is a milky-sapped perennial plant in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), known commonly as the showy milkweed and is found in the western half of North America.
Lysimachia quadrifolia, the whorled loosestrife, whorled yellow loosestrife, or crosswort, is a species of herbaceous plant in the family Primulaceae. It native to the eastern United States and Canada.
Asclepias cordifolia is a species of milkweed commonly called heart-leaf milkweed or purple milkweed. It is native to the western United States, growing between 50 and 2,000 m elevation in the northern Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. Heart-leaf milkweed was valued by the Native American Miwok tribe for its stems, which they dried and processed into string and rope.
Asclepias eriocarpa is a species of milkweed known by the common names woollypod milkweed, Indian milkweed, and kotolo. It is a perennial herb that grows in many types of habitats.
Asclepias viridis is a species of milkweed, a plant in the dogbane family known by the common names green milkweed, green antelopehorn and spider milkweed. The Latin word viridis means green. The plant is native to the midwestern, south central and southeastern United States, as well as to the southeastern portion of the western United States.
Asclepias sullivantii is a species of flowering plant in the milkweed genus, Asclepias. Common names include prairie milkweed, Sullivant's milkweed, and smooth milkweed. It is native to North America, where it occurs in the central United States and Ontario in Canada.
Asclepias hirtella, commonly called the tall green milkweed, is a species of flowering plant in the milkweed genus and dogbane family (Apocynaceae). It is native to Canada and the United States, where its range is concentrated in the Midwest and Upper South.
Asclepias stenophylla is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) commonly called slimleaf milkweed and narrow-leaved green milkweed.
Asclepias angustifolia, commonly called the Arizona milkweed, is an endemic species of milkweed native only to Arizona.
Asclepias perennis, also known as aquatic milkweed or white swamp milkweed, is a North American species of milkweed that is found throughout the Coastal Plain from eastern Texas to southern South Carolina, northward along the Mississippi River, and into the Ohio Valley of Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. There seems to be a few disjunct populations in Arkansas, Texas, and Indiana.
Asclepias cinerea, also known as Carolina milkweed or ashy milkweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant species in the genus Asclepias. It is native to the United States where its range is concentrated in the Southeast.