Index / Search / Asclepias speciosa
§1 Plant
Asclepias speciosa Torr.
vernacular showy milkweed — species · Asclepiadaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Asclepiadaceae Borkh.
- Genus
- Asclepias
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 485 counties across 22 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Low
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- Low
- CaCO₃
- Medium
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -33 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 90 min.
- Precipitation
- 16–30 in/yr
- pH range
- 5–7
- Root depth
- 18 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 6 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- White
- Fruit colour
- Black
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- Slight
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Seed abundance
- High
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Moderate
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 72,000
- Propagation
- seed, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Palatable, human
- No
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 485 counties across 22 states/territories.
Arizona view state ↗ 4 N ▾
California view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Alpine 06003
- Amador 06005
- Butte 06007
- Calaveras 06009
- Colusa 06011
- El Dorado 06017
- Fresno 06019
- Glenn 06021
- Humboldt 06023
- Inyo 06027
- Lake 06033
- Lassen 06035
- Marin 06041
- Mariposa 06043
- Mendocino 06045
- Mono 06051
- Nevada 06057
- Placer 06061
- Plumas 06063
- Shasta 06089
- Sierra 06091
- Siskiyou 06093
- Solano 06095
- Sonoma 06097
- Tehama 06103
- Trinity 06105
- Tuolumne 06109
- Yolo 06113
Colorado view state ↗ 39 N ▾
- Adams 08001
- Alamosa 08003
- Archuleta 08007
- Bent 08011
- Boulder 08013
- Cheyenne 08017
- Conejos 08021
- Crowley 08025
- El Paso 08041
- Elbert 08039
- Fremont 08043
- Gilpin 08047
- Gunnison 08051
- Huerfano 08055
- Jefferson 08059
- Kiowa 08061
- Kit Carson 08063
- La Plata 08067
- Larimer 08069
- Las Animas 08071
- Lincoln 08073
- Logan 08075
- Mesa 08077
- Mineral 08079
- Moffat 08081
- Montezuma 08083
- Montrose 08085
- Otero 08089
- Phillips 08095
- Pitkin 08097
- Prowers 08099
- Pueblo 08101
- Rio Blanco 08103
- Routt 08107
- San Juan 08111
- Sedgwick 08115
- Washington 08121
- Weld 08123
- Yuma 08125
Idaho view state ↗ 29 N ▾
- Ada 16001
- Adams 16003
- Bannock 16005
- Bear Lake 16007
- Bingham 16011
- Butte 16023
- Canyon 16027
- Cassia 16031
- Clearwater 16035
- Custer 16037
- Elmore 16039
- Franklin 16041
- Fremont 16043
- Gem 16045
- Gooding 16047
- Idaho 16049
- Jefferson 16051
- Kootenai 16055
- Latah 16057
- Lemhi 16059
- Lincoln 16063
- Madison 16065
- Nez Perce 16069
- Owyhee 16073
- Payette 16075
- Power 16077
- Twin Falls 16083
- Valley 16085
- Washington 16087
Illinois view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 55 N ▾
- Barber 20007
- Barton 20009
- Cheyenne 20023
- Clark 20025
- Clay 20027
- Cloud 20029
- Comanche 20033
- Decatur 20039
- Dickinson 20041
- Edwards 20047
- Ellis 20051
- Ellsworth 20053
- Finney 20055
- Ford 20057
- Geary 20061
- Gove 20063
- Graham 20065
- Grant 20067
- Gray 20069
- Hamilton 20075
- Harper 20077
- Harvey 20079
- Hodgeman 20083
- Kearny 20093
- Kingman 20095
- Kiowa 20097
- Logan 20109
- McPherson 20113
- Meade 20119
- Morton 20129
- Norton 20137
- Osborne 20141
- Ottawa 20143
- Pawnee 20145
- Pottawatomie 20149
- Pratt 20151
- Rawlins 20153
- Reno 20155
- Republic 20157
- Rice 20159
- Riley 20161
- Rooks 20163
- Rush 20165
- Russell 20167
- Saline 20169
- Scott 20171
- Sedgwick 20173
- Seward 20175
- Sheridan 20179
- Sherman 20181
- Stafford 20185
- Stanton 20187
- Thomas 20193
- Trego 20195
- Wallace 20199
Michigan view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 49 N ▾
- Anoka 27003
- Becker 27005
- Big Stone 27011
- Cass 27021
- Chippewa 27023
- Clay 27027
- Clearwater 27029
- Cottonwood 27033
- Crow Wing 27035
- Dakota 27037
- Douglas 27041
- Goodhue 27049
- Grant 27051
- Hennepin 27053
- Houston 27055
- Isanti 27059
- Itasca 27061
- Jackson 27063
- Kandiyohi 27067
- Kittson 27069
- Lac qui Parle 27073
- Lake of the Woods 27077
- Lincoln 27081
- Lyon 27083
- Mahnomen 27087
- McLeod 27085
- Morrison 27097
- Mower 27099
- Nobles 27105
- Norman 27107
- Otter Tail 27111
- Pennington 27113
- Pine 27115
- Pipestone 27117
- Polk 27119
- Pope 27121
- Rice 27131
- Scott 27139
- Sherburne 27141
- St. Louis 27137
- Stearns 27145
- Swift 27151
- Traverse 27155
- Wabasha 27157
- Washington 27163
- Wilkin 27167
- Winona 27169
- Wright 27171
- Yellow Medicine 27173
Montana view state ↗ 31 N ▾
- Big Horn 30003
- Blaine 30005
- Carbon 30009
- Carter 30011
- Cascade 30013
- Custer 30017
- Daniels 30019
- Fallon 30025
- Gallatin 30031
- Garfield 30033
- Golden Valley 30037
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Lincoln 30053
- McCone 30055
- Musselshell 30065
- Park 30067
- Petroleum 30069
- Phillips 30071
- Powder River 30075
- Prairie 30079
- Richland 30083
- Roosevelt 30085
- Rosebud 30087
- Sheridan 30091
- Stillwater 30095
- Sweet Grass 30097
- Teton 30099
- Treasure 30103
- Valley 30105
- Wibaux 30109
- Yellowstone 30111
Nebraska view state ↗ 35 N ▾
- Arthur 31005
- Banner 31007
- Box Butte 31013
- Buffalo 31019
- Chase 31029
- Cherry 31031
- Cheyenne 31033
- Custer 31041
- Dawes 31045
- Dawson 31047
- Deuel 31049
- Dundy 31057
- Franklin 31061
- Furnas 31065
- Garden 31069
- Grant 31075
- Hall 31079
- Hayes 31085
- Kearney 31099
- Keith 31101
- Keya Paha 31103
- Kimball 31105
- Lancaster 31109
- Lincoln 31111
- Logan 31113
- McPherson 31117
- Morrill 31123
- Perkins 31135
- Phelps 31137
- Platte 31141
- Red Willow 31145
- Scotts Bluff 31157
- Sheridan 31161
- Sioux 31165
- Thomas 31171
Nevada view state ↗ 16 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 16 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 36 N ▾
- Barnes 38003
- Benson 38005
- Billings 38007
- Bottineau 38009
- Bowman 38011
- Burke 38013
- Cass 38017
- Dickey 38021
- Divide 38023
- Dunn 38025
- Eddy 38027
- Foster 38031
- Golden Valley 38033
- Grand Forks 38035
- Grant 38037
- Griggs 38039
- Kidder 38043
- LaMoure 38045
- McIntosh 38051
- McKenzie 38053
- Morton 38059
- Mountrail 38061
- Pembina 38067
- Ramsey 38071
- Ransom 38073
- Richland 38077
- Rolette 38079
- Sargent 38081
- Sheridan 38083
- Sioux 38085
- Slope 38087
- Stark 38089
- Stutsman 38093
- Walsh 38099
- Ward 38101
- Williams 38105
Oklahoma view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Baker 41001
- Benton 41003
- Columbia 41009
- Crook 41013
- Curry 41015
- Deschutes 41017
- Douglas 41019
- Gilliam 41021
- Grant 41023
- Harney 41025
- Hood River 41027
- Jackson 41029
- Jefferson 41031
- Josephine 41033
- Klamath 41035
- Lake 41037
- Lane 41039
- Linn 41043
- Malheur 41045
- Morrow 41049
- Polk 41053
- Sherman 41055
- Umatilla 41059
- Wallowa 41063
- Wasco 41065
- Washington 41067
- Wheeler 41069
- Yamhill 41071
South Dakota view state ↗ 27 N ▾
- Brookings 46011
- Butte 46019
- Campbell 46021
- Codington 46029
- Custer 46033
- Day 46037
- Fall River 46047
- Faulk 46049
- Haakon 46055
- Hand 46059
- Harding 46063
- Jones 46075
- Lawrence 46081
- Lincoln 46083
- Lyman 46085
- Marshall 46091
- McPherson 46089
- Miner 46097
- Pennington 46103
- Perkins 46105
- Roberts 46109
- Spink 46115
- Stanley 46117
- Sully 46119
- Tripp 46123
- Walworth 46129
- Ziebach 46137
Texas view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 29 N ▾
- Beaver 49001
- Box Elder 49003
- Cache 49005
- Carbon 49007
- Daggett 49009
- Davis 49011
- Duchesne 49013
- Emery 49015
- Garfield 49017
- Grand 49019
- Iron 49021
- Juab 49023
- Kane 49025
- Millard 49027
- Morgan 49029
- Piute 49031
- Rich 49033
- Salt Lake 49035
- San Juan 49037
- Sanpete 49039
- Sevier 49041
- Summit 49043
- Tooele 49045
- Uintah 49047
- Utah 49049
- Wasatch 49051
- Washington 49053
- Wayne 49055
- Weber 49057
Washington view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 1 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/ASSP ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/3170260 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z