Redring Milkweed
Asclepias variegata Linnaeus
Redring Milkweed: https://marylandbiodiversity.org/species/149
Synonyms
White Milkweed 
Tags

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57 Records

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Status

Redring Milkweed is a rare milkweed of wooded habitats with records across most of Maryland. Redring Milkweed likes partial shade and can be found growing in open rich woods and forested edges. Unfortunately, this species appears to be in decline and has become rare across the state. The Maryland Biodiversity Project only has two localities (Dorchester, Allegany) for this beautiful milkweed since the turn of the new century. The species may be fire dependent. The locality in Dorchester County lacked any recent Redring Milkweed records until the state burned the property and the milkweed miraculously appeared the next season.

Description

Redring Milkweed has foliage similar to Common Milkweed. The leaves are petiolate and the flower clusters are pure white. Groups of flowers have been described as snowballs growing in the woods. The lower portion of the flower is encircled in red thus giving this milkweed its common name. The seeds pods of Redring Milkwing stand erect often near the top of the stem.

Relationships

White-tailed Deer browse may also be an issue with Redring Milkweed. Even though most wildlife do not forage on milkweed, we have observed Redring Milkweed plants at the Dorchester County location that have been obviously deer browsed. One season most of the population was eaten (munched halfway down the stem), resulting in no plants going to seed.

Resources

View at iNaturalist Search Google Images Search MBP Facebook posts
View at Maryland Plant Atlas Search Flora of North America Search Mid-Atlantic Herbaria Consortium Search Norton-Brown Herbarium Search MNPS Facebook posts

Citations

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Source: Wikipedia

Asclepias variegata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Asclepias
Species:
A. variegata
Binomial name
Asclepias variegata
Synonyms

Biventraria variegata (L.) Small

Asclepias variegata, commonly called the redring milkweed[1] or white milkweed,[2] is a plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to eastern North America, where it is found in Canada and the United States.[3] It is most common in the Southeastern United States, and becomes rare in the northern edge of its range.

Description

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Asclepias variegata is a perennial herb, with stems reaching between 20 and 100 centimeters in height. Its leaves are most commonly opposite, arranged in 2 to 5 pairs and range in length from 5 to 14 centimeters.[4]

It produces small white flowers with purplish centers that area crowded into round, terminal clusters.[5]

Ecology

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Habitat

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A. variegata is found most commonly in upland woodlands and mesic hammocks, but also occurs on bluffs, and in savannas, often in sandy soils.[6][7][8] This species prefers higher light levels.[9]

It often occurs alongside species such as pine, hickory, oak, and sweetgum, among others.[9]

Phenology

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This species flowers in early summer.[2] Fruiting has been observed from late summer into fall.[9]

Fire Ecology

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A. variegata possesses a deep taproot which allows it to regenerate post-fire.[9] It has been found in pinelands and pine-oak-hickory stands that regularly receive prescribed burns.[9]

Asclepias variegata is insect pollinated and is recorded to have been visited in northern Florida by the bee species Augochlorella aurata.[10]

Conservation status in the United States

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It is endangered in the states of New York, and Pennsylvania.[11] It is listed as a special concern species and believed extirpated in Connecticut.[12]

References

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  1. ^ NRCS. "Asclepias variegata". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b Alan Weakley. "Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States". Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  3. ^ Kartesz, John T. (2014). "Asclepias variegata". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  4. ^ Radford, Albert Ernest; Ahles, Harry E.; Bell, Clyde Ritchie (1983). Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas (9. printing ed.). Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-1087-3.
  5. ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". wildflower.org. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  6. ^ Weakley, A.S. 2020. Flora of the Southeastern United States. Edition of 20 October 2020. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  7. ^ Wunderlin, Richard P.; Hansen, Bruce F. (2011). Guide to the vascular plants of Florida (3rd ed.). Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-3543-7.
  8. ^ Yatskievych, George (2006). Flora of Missouri, Volume 2. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. pp. 156–157.
  9. ^ a b c d e Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Robert K. Godfrey, H. Kurz, K. Craddock Burks, James R. Burkhalter, L G Plank, Gary R. Knight, Andre F. Clewell, R. Kral, Richard S. Mitchell, Lisa Keppner, Ed Keppner, D.C. Hunt, R. Komarek, Wilson Baker, and R. F. Doren. States and Counties: Florida: Leon, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Jackson, Gadsden, Liberty, Jefferson, Wakulla, Walton, and Bay. Georgia: Grady and Thomas.
  10. ^ Ulyshen, M. D., K. Robertson, S. Horn, and C. Dixon. 2024. Characterization of the bee community and pollinatrion network in a southeastern U.S. pine savanna. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 12:1403602.
  11. ^ "Plants Profile for Asclepias variegata (Redring milkweed)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 31 December 2017.(Note: This list is newer than the one used by plants.usda.gov and is more up-to-date.)
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