Common Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca L. - Milkweed family
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Size

Mature Height: Up to around 5.0 feet

Plant Type: Forb/herb

Features

Flower Color: White, Purple

Conspicuous Flowers: Yes

Bloom Time: Late Spring, Early Summer, Mid Summer

Conditions

Shade Tolerance: Intolerant

Ecosystem Interactions

Pollinators: Native Bees; Bombus; Honey Bees; Beetles, Wasps, Flies; Moths; Butterflies; Monarchs; Nesting and Structure (Bees); Larval Host (Monarch); Larval Host (Butterfly); Larval Host (Moth)

Larval Species depending on Common Milkweed: Danaus plexippus, Hyalophora cecropia, Papaipema nebris, Parrhasius m-album, Phragmatobia lineata

Native Range

  • USA:  Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin
  • CAN:  Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward I., Québec, Saskatchewan
Regional Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

State-level native status is based on data available through Plants of the World Online. Regional Native Status comes from the USDA Plants Database. For more detailed native status information, please refer to BONAP.