Bract Milkweed
Asclepias brachystephana Engelm. ex Torr.
A low desert grassland milkweed with narrow folded leaves and dense clusters of small dusky purple flowers held tight in the leaf axils, common on caliche flats in New Mexico and west Texas.
Also called Short-crown Milkweed.
- Height
- 6 in–1.5 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft–2 ft
- Flowers
- maroon, purple
- Bloom
- April to August
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
- USDA zones
- 6–10
- Leaves
- Opposite, narrow
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Deep taproot, resents transplanting
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 3 states
When it flowers
Bract Milkweed blooms April to August, peaking in May and June.
How to identify it
- Small purple-maroon flowers in compact axillary clusters.
- Narrow leaves, often folded along the midrib and grayish.
- Low sprawling habit on hard calcareous desert soils.
Ecology and wildlife value
A widespread Chihuahuan Desert host used by monarchs and queens during migration.
Growing bract milkweed
Rarely cultivated.
Seed needs about 30 days of cold-moist stratification. Deep taproot, resents transplanting. See how to plant milkweed seed for the full method.
Cautions
Standard milkweed cautions. More on milkweed toxicity.
Where bract milkweed grows
Recorded in 3 states: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas.
Distribution is generalized to state level. For county-level maps see USDA PLANTS and BONAP.
References and further reading
Names, ranges and conservation status here are drawn from the databases below. Where those disagree with a regional flora, trust the flora.
- Plants of the World Online 94136-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170258. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158733. Community observations, photographs and phenology.
- Wikipedia. General-audience article on this species.
- BONAP county distribution map. Biota of North America Program. County-level range map.
- NatureServe Explorer. Conservation status ranks at global and state level.
- World Flora Online. Nomenclature and synonymy.
- Woodson, R. E. (1954). The North American species of Asclepias L.. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 41(1): 1–211. The monograph the modern taxonomy of the genus still rests on. View
- Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.) (2026). Flora of North America North of Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford. Accepted names, keys and descriptions for the North American flora. View
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Nomenclature and global distribution, keyed to IPNI name identifiers. View
- Kartesz, J. T. (Biota of North America Program) (2026). North American Plant Atlas. BONAP, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. County-level distribution maps, the basis for the ranges generalized here. View
- USDA, NRCS (2026). The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, North Carolina. State-level distribution, wetland status and nomenclature. View
- Agrawal, A. A. (2017). Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution. Princeton University Press. The standard general account of the milkweed and monarch relationship. View
Cite this page
This page is licensed CC BY 4.0. Quote it, adapt it and reuse it, including commercially, as long as you credit Milkweed USA and link back.
Milkweed USA. (2026). Bract Milkweed (Asclepias brachystephana). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/bract-milkweed/
"Bract Milkweed (Asclepias brachystephana)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/bract-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Bract Milkweed (Asclepias brachystephana)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/bract-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesbractmilkweed,
title = {Bract Milkweed (Asclepias brachystephana)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/bract-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}