Desert Milkweed
Asclepias erosa Torr.
A big, pale, upright milkweed of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, with chalky white stems, thick cream-edged leaves and heavy clusters of yellowish-white flowers that persist through the hottest months.
Also called Erose Milkweed.
- Height
- 2 ft–5 ft
- Spread
- 1.5 ft–3 ft
- Flowers
- cream, yellow
- Bloom
- April to September
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
- USDA zones
- 8–11
- Leaves
- Opposite, ovate
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Deep taproot, resents transplanting
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 4 states
When it flowers
Desert Milkweed blooms April to September, peaking in May and June.
How to identify it
- Tall stiff stems that look bleached white or very pale green.
- Thick leaves with pale, often crisped or eroded-looking margins.
- Large clusters of cream-yellow flowers, blooming in true desert heat.
Ecology and wildlife value
One of very few milkweeds available to monarchs and queens in the low desert during summer, often along washes and roadsides.
Growing desert milkweed
Excellent in a Southwest desert garden: architectural, heat-proof and long-blooming. Needs full sun and fast drainage.
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 desert milkweed grows
Recorded in 4 states: Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah.
Distribution is generalized to state level. For county-level maps see USDA PLANTS and BONAP.
Frequently asked questions
What milkweed grows in Arizona?
Desert milkweed (A. erosa) and pineneedle milkweed (A. linaria) for the low desert, antelope horns and rush milkweed in the transition zones, and showy milkweed at higher elevations along streams.
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 94260-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170333. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 57907. 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
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Milkweed USA. (2026). Desert Milkweed (Asclepias erosa). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/desert-milkweed/
"Desert Milkweed (Asclepias erosa)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/desert-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Desert Milkweed (Asclepias erosa)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/desert-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesdesertmilkweed,
title = {Desert Milkweed (Asclepias erosa)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/desert-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}