| Dicotyledon | Literature for Asclepias physocarpa
Wagner et al., 1990, 1999; Lorence & Wagner, 2020. |
| Apocynaceae -- The Dogbane, Milkweed Family | Bibliography |
| Asclepias physocarpa | |
Common name(s): butterfly flower, milkweed, balloon plant |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Native to South Africa.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Kaho`olawe, Hawai`i. | |
| Habit |
Perennial herb, 1‒2 m tall, sparingly branched, becoming somewhat woody at base, glabrate or puberulent. |
|
| Leaves |
Leaves opposite, short-petiolate; blade linear lanceolate to lanceolate, (3.5‒)5‒12(‒13) cm long, 0.3‒2 cm wide; petiole 0.1‒1 cm long. |
|
| Flowers |
Inflorescences an axillary, umbellate cyme. Flowers on pedicel 1‒2 cm long; corolla white, lobes ovate, 8‒10 mm long, reflexed, ciliate; corona white, segments erect, strongly compressed laterally, without an internal horn. |
|
| Fruit |
Fruit ovoid, greatly inflated, 4‒7 cm long, 2.5‒5 cm in diameter, covered with long, soft bristles. |
|
| Seeds |
Seeds dark brown, obovoid compressed, 4‒5 mm long, 2 mm wide, apex obtuse. |
|
| Chromosomes |
2n = 22. |
|
| Contributor |
Nancy Khan |
