Milkweed (?) ID from seeds & dried stalk? (x-post from Milkweeds)
I visited my son in Austin,TX in January, and noticed a dead plant in the corner of his driveway (rental house w/ three other roommates, so who knows if this was intentionally planted or a volunteer). It looked awfully 'milkweed-ish', so I snapped off the top stalk and rolled it all up into a paper towel -- pretty much forgot about it until now. I've got tropical and incarnata MW seedlings sprouted right now, and I'd love to know if I have a third variety -- I'm in milkweed mode!
First pic has tropical MW seeds for size reference. That mystery plant shown is ~ 4", if I uncurl the very top:
The whole thing's very brittle and fluffy -- at the merest touch, I've got fluff and frass all over.
Here's a closeup. What I snapped off is basically the top of the plant, with several arching branches of what once were flowers -- and the very top seems to be the final arched branch. Blue arrows point to side branches. Circled in red are maybe seeds...? (If so, that's a ton of seeds. And this isn't at all similar to the MW seed pods I'm used to seeing.)
Can anyone tell me if this is a milkweed (and, if so, what variety?)? I can Google from there.
If this helps, the plant is situated on the north side of the house; watering is likely very hit or miss (mostly miss, I'd guess). My son just checked and reported that the plant has come back from the freezes! No flowers yet, but he says the leaves are slender and pointy, very much resembling either tropical or tuberosa MW. (He doesn't have a camera, so no pics...and the plants not blooming yet, either.)
Thanks for any help with this.
c f
Comments (8)
javiwa
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Are red milkweed beetles harmful to milkweed
Comments (15)@Perennialfan: If the smaller red bugs look like those in the second picture down on the right-hand side of the link I posted, they are immature milkweed bugs. MBs have an incomplete metamorphosis (meaning that the young look very much like the adults). @Ken: Milkweed bugs are in the order hemiptera, all of which have sucking mouthparts. This order of insects are commonly referred to as "true bugs" and includes such insects as aphids, woolly adelgids, leafhoppers, planthoppers, cicadas, stinkbugs and tens of thousands of others. I don't know whether they're called "true bugs" so as to distinguish them from the term "bug" to describe any insect, or whether there's another reason ... but I'm sure it's a lot easier for most people to handle than "hemiptera" (which really isn't so difficult, once you get used to it). Considering their apparent promiscuity, I don't know if any bugs are really true ;-) @Echinaceamaniac: You've sure got that right! I've seen the milkweed in our park take a lot of abuse from nature ... and still it thrives!...See MoreName Your Fastest Growing Milkweed From Seed
Comments (1)This year I wintersowed and got good germination on all of these: A. incarnata 'Ice Ballet' A. variegata A. purpurascens A. speciosa A. exaltata A. curassavica The fastest growing perennial seedlings are the A. incarnata. Next is the A. purpurascens. The rest are growing more slowly. The tropical milkweed is just sprouting, and likely will grow to the largest size in one season. If I had more sun, they would probably do better. My older Asclepias has been suffering the past couple years though - lots of wilt and root dieback. The A. incarnata plants are barely hanging on. Some stalks on the large A. tuberosas are dying back. I think I lost a 2 year old A. variegata plant this winter. 3rd year A. purpurascens and 2nd year A. verticillata plants are doing well, but they are all pretty small. The wild A. syriaca was hit with a wilt last year, but seems to be doing okay this year, so far. Last year, it didn't seem to matter that the Asclepias did terribly, because there were hardly any Monarchs anyway. I didn't collect any eggs last year. Hopefully, this year there will be both Monarch eggs and plenty of Milkweed!...See MoreQuestion Re saving milkweed seed.
Comments (5)Hi Docmom, when I collect milkweed pods, I wait until they are yellowing, but not split open yet. I think the yellowing means that the plant's energy is receding from the seedhead and the drying process has started. I spread the pods out in a flat container and let them dry some more. Then test the pods periodically by squeezing or rolling a bit, until they just start to split open (takes a week or so). The seeds are brown at this point, but the pappus or fluff is still slightly moist, and doesn't fly all over the place. It's easier to remove the seeds from the pod without making a mess this way. Then, I spread out the seeds and let them dry out for another week or so....See MoreMilkweed ID - A. speciosa, variegata, syriaca, or X?
Comments (9)I'm the propagator at a native plant nursery, so growing milkweeds is part of my job. But I will say that prior to my arrival at the company they grew three species only -- tuberosa, of course, plus incarnata and verticillata. I confess I do love milkweeds, so my interest has perhaps expanded their offerings a wee bit. Syriaca is certainly invasive, so I only spec it into designs where that characteristic is a desirable one -- prairie restorations, butterfly meadows and so forth. Not a plant for the garden bed, in my opinion. It also gets very tall around here; eight feet is not unusual if moisture is decent. I haven't had much trouble with overenthusiastic spreading from any other types. Easiest to grow is incarnata, in my experience, which is probably why it's pretty generally available. It also seems to be the #1 favorite species with Monarchs as a larval food -- they'll defoliate a clump and leave another Asclepias species nearby pretty much alone. My favorites are viridis, purpurescens and variegata. Each is showy in its own way, with good across-the-yard garden impact, and I do like showy plants. :) I find the elaborate floral structure of all Asclepias pretty wonderful, actually. It's a genus worth getting up close and personal with. Here on the Western Highland Rim I find variegata, purpurescens, syriaca and quadrifolia. In the cedar glades of the Central Basin I get viridis, viridiflora and verticillata. On the Plateau I get exaltata. Tuberosa and incarnata are in all locales I typically scout. Marty...See Morejaviwa
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agojaviwa
6 years agoI understand now, wantonamara -- thanks. I do recall my milkweeds forming pods, bursting open and blowing away pre-winter. The seeds pictured definitely 'died on the vine'.
docmom_gw replied to my separate inquiry and says it could be goldenrod. The flower shape (feather-like) definitely looks right, and I can see how the leaves might resemble milkweed:
Appears to be rather invasive for a garden that needs to support other plants), despite it being great for butterflies, bees, etc.
klem1