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Asclepias tomentosa Elliott
Velvetleaf Milkweed
Tuba Milkweed
Florida native
An occasional wildflower of sandhills and dunes mostly in the central peninsula but also extending south into Collier County, into some northern counties and west into the central panhandle. The range includes the coastal states from North Carolina to Alabama and also Texas.
The stems are pubescent and up to 60cm (2 ft.) tall. The leaves are petiolate, with the undersides tomentose - covered with a wooly mat of short, soft hairs. The inflorescence is in a sessile umbel arising from the stem at the level of, and between the opposite leaves. The mostly greenish-white flowers have corolla lobes 9-10mm (~3/8 in.) long with horns that are longer than the hoods.
Asclepias tomentosa is a member of the Apocynaceae - Dogbane family.
Other species of the Asclepias genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Asclepias cinerea - CAROLINA MILKWEED
Asclepias curassavica - TROPICAL MILKWEED
Asclepias curtissii - CURTISS' MILKWEED
Asclepias humistrata - PINEWOODS MILKWEED
Asclepias lanceolata - FEWFLOWER MILKWEED
Asclepias longifolia - LONGLEAF MILKWEED
Asclepias michauxii - MICHAUX'S MILKWEED
Asclepias pedicellata - SAVANNAH MILKWEED
Asclepias perennis - SWAMP MILKWEED
Asclepias tuberosa - BUTTERFLY WEED
Asclepias verticillata - WHORLED MILKWEED
Asclepias viridiflora - GREEN MILKWEED
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Oct 19, 2023
