Asclepias uncialis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Apocynaceae |
Genus: | Asclepias |
Species: | A. uncialis |
Binomial name | |
Asclepias uncialis | |
Asclepias uncialis is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family known by the common name wheel milkweed. It is native to the western United States. [1] Two subspecies are sometimes described, with ssp. ruthiae containing three plants which are sometimes described as separate species, Asclepias ruthiae, A. eastwoodiana, and A. sanjuanensis. [2]
This species is a small perennial herb with stems just a few inches long. Like most other milkweeds, the stems contain a milky sap. There are two different leaf types. The lower leaves are lance-shaped to oval, and the upper leaves are narrower. Flowers occur at the ends of the stems in clusters of up to 12. They are pinkish purple in color. The fruit is a follicle containing seeds which each have a tuft of silky hairs up to an inch long. The plant may be considered "semi-rhizomatous", as what appear to be separate individuals may actually be connected underground by the root crown, which may be up to a foot deep in the soil. [2]
This plant is less common than it was 100 to 150 years ago. It was collected in greater numbers then and appears to have had a larger distribution. There are many historical occurrences that are gone today. There are about 20 occurrences known today. [2]
This plant occurs along the edge of the southern Rocky Mountains in what may be considered the western Great Plains. This distribution generally excludes what is sometimes called ssp. ruthiae, which has a distribution extending west to Nevada. [2] The habitat is mostly shortgrass prairie. [1] [2] The amount of available habitat has declined over the years due to its conversion to agricultural purposes, including rangeland. The land is dominated by grasses, particularly Bouteloua species. Other species include Buchloë dactyloides , Hesperostipa comata , Koeleria macrantha , Pascopyrum smithii , Aristida purpurea , and Sporobolus cryptandrus . There are also shrubs such as the sagebrush Artemisia tridentata . The plant may also be found in grass-dominated parts of pinyon-juniper woodland habitat and other open woodlands. The plants may grow at the bases of large features such as mesas, but they do not occur on rock outcrops or disturbed habitat such as dunes. It is not restricted to any particular soil type. [2]
There are several threats to the species. One is an unknown threat probably related to the plant's biology that is evidenced by its absence in large stretches of appropriate habitat and its absence from an assemblage of surviving native plants. It may have low rates of sexual reproduction. [2]
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 asperula, commonly called antelope horns milkweed or spider milkweed, is a species of milkweed native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
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 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.
Pseudoroegneria spicata is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms Elymus spicatus and Agropyron spicatum. The grass can be found in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from Alaska and Yukon south as far as Sonora and Nuevo León.
Oenothera californica, known by the common name California evening primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family.
Pinyon–juniper woodland, also spelled piñon–juniper woodland, is a biome found mid-elevations in arid regions of the Western United States, characterized by being an open forest dominated by low, bushy, evergreen junipers, pinyon pines, and their associates. At lower elevations, junipers often predominate and trees are spaced widely, bordering on and mingling with grassland or shrubland, but as elevation increases, pinyon pines become common and trees grow closer, forming denser canopies. Historically, pinyon-juniper woodland has provided a vital source of fuel and food for peoples of the American Southwest.
Asclepias meadii is a rare species of milkweed known by the common name Mead's milkweed. It is native to the American Midwest, where it was probably once quite widespread in the tallgrass prairie. Today much of the Midwest has been fragmented and claimed for agriculture, and the remaining prairie habitat is degraded.
Asclepias welshii is a rare species of milkweed known by the common name Welsh's milkweed. It is native to southern Utah and northern Arizona, where there are four known occurrences remaining. Most of the plants occur in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, where the habitat has been degraded in many areas by off-road vehicle use. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Artemisia norvegica is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names alpine sagewort, boreal sagewort, mountain sagewort, Norwegian mugwort, arctic wormwood, and spruce wormwood. It is found in cold locations in Eurasia and high altitudes and high latitudes in North America.
Solidago missouriensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Missouri goldenrod and prairie goldenrod. It is native to North America, where it is widespread across much of Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It grows from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south as far as Sonora, Coahuila, Texas, and Mississippi.
Asclepias quadrifolia, commonly called four-leaved milkweed or fourleaf milkweed, is a species of milkweed in the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family. It is sometimes referred to as whorled milkweed, but it should not be confused with Asclepias verticillata. A. quadrifolia occurs in the eastern United States and Canada.
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.
Delphinium exaltatum, known by the common name tall larkspur, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Delphinium, part of the buttercup family. Other Delphinium species are also commonly known as tall larkspur, such as Delphinium barbeyi. D. exaltatum is native to the central and eastern United States, where it can be found in Kentucky, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri.
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 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.
Arctostaphylos glandulosa subsp. crassifolia is a rare perennial shrub, a subspecies of manzanita within the heather family commonly known as the Del Mar manzanita. It is narrowly endemic to the sandstone coastal terraces of San Diego County and northwestern Baja California. It is a burl-forming evergreen shrub typically found growing in a rambling habit on poor soils and hardpan. From December to February, white to pink urn-shaped flowers decorate its foliage, giving way to small fruits. It is listed as endangered and is threatened by land development, invasive species and modifications to the natural fire regime.