Indian milkweed

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Indian milkweed
Asclepias curassavica

Asclepias curassavica

Systematics
Family : Dog poison family (Apocynaceae)
Subfamily : Silk plants (Asclepiadoideae)
Tribe : Asclepiadeae
Sub tribus : Asclepiadinae
Genre : Silk plants ( Asclepias )
Type : Indian milkweed
Scientific name
Asclepias curassavica
L.

The Indian Milkweed ( Asclepias curassavica ), often Curacao Milkweed inaccurate or only milkweed or silk flower called, is a species of the genus milkweed ( Asclepias ) of the subfamily Asclepiadoideae that the family of Hundsgiftgewächse is provided. Today this species is found in warmer regions as an ornamental plant (or it has already grown wild) almost worldwide.

features

The Indian Milkweed is switched on until a few years, upright shrub reached, the plant height of up to about 1 meter. The branches are few or unbranched. The opposite short stalked and lanceolate leaves are 8 to 12 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. They are bare and dark green on top and bluish green on the underside.

The terminal, golden inflorescence consists of five to ten flowers. The hermaphrodite flower has a diameter of about 1 to 1.5 cm. The dark orange-red petals are turned back far. The secondary crown is light orange-red and has a short stalk.

The single or paired, spindle-shaped follicle fruit is up to 10 cm long. The seeds have the hair (“silk”) typical of silk plants.

Monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ) caterpillars on the Indian milkweed
Asclepias curassavica . fruit
Asclepias curassavica . Seeds

ecology

This species is an important food plant for the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ), which has now spread almost worldwide in warmer regions. The monarch butterfly is particularly common in parks where this plant was grown as an ornamental plant. The caterpillars of other moths such as Danaus chrysippus , Danaus gilippus or the white tree nymph ( Idea leuconoe ) also feed on the leaves and branches of this species.

Occurrence

This species was originally distributed from Mexico to tropical South America. Today it is found almost all over the world as an ornamental plant and is wild in many regions, for example in Spain and Morocco.

Systematics

The Swedish botanist Carl von Linné listed the species in 1753 under the name Asclepias curassavica in his work Species plantarum .

A synonym is Asclepias nivea var. Curassavica (L.) Kuntze .

literature

  • Andreas Bärtels: Color Atlas Tropical Plants - Ornamental and Useful Plants. 3. revised u. exp. Edition, 384 pages, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1995 ISBN 3-8001-3468-3

Single references

  1. ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Asclepias. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  2. ↑ Carl von Linné: Species plantarum 1: 215, 1753. See entry at GRIN under web links.

Web links

Commons : Indian Milkweed  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files