Emory’s Milkweed
Asclepias emoryi (Greene) Vail
A low, wiry Chihuahuan Desert milkweed of gypsum and caliche flats in west Texas and southern New Mexico, flowering greenish-cream after any decent rain.
- Height
- 4 in–1.2 ft
- Spread
- 10 in–1.8 ft
- Flowers
- green, cream
- Bloom
- April to September
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
- USDA zones
- 7–10
- Leaves
- Opposite, narrow
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Deep taproot, resents transplanting
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 2 states
When it flowers
Emory’s Milkweed blooms April to September, peaking in May and September.
How to identify it
- Low sprawling stems with narrow, often folded opposite leaves.
- Small greenish flowers in compact clusters.
- Gypsum, caliche and other harsh calcareous desert soils.
Ecology and wildlife value
Opportunistic flowering after rain makes it available to monarchs and queens at unpredictable times through the season.
Growing emory’s milkweed
Not in cultivation.
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 emory’s milkweed grows
Recorded in 2 states: 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 21184-2. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 8076255. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158737. Community observations, photographs and phenology.
- 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). Emory’s Milkweed (Asclepias emoryi). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/emorys-milkweed/
"Emory’s Milkweed (Asclepias emoryi)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/emorys-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Emory’s Milkweed (Asclepias emoryi)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/emorys-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesemorysmilkweed,
title = {Emory’s Milkweed (Asclepias emoryi)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/emorys-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}