Longleaf Milkweed
Asclepias longifolia Michx.
A slim coastal plain milkweed of damp pine savanna, with long narrow leaves and greenish-white flowers heavily washed in purple, borne in nodding clusters from the upper leaf axils.
- Height
- 1 ft–2.5 ft
- Spread
- 8 in–1.3 ft
- Flowers
- green, purple, white
- Bloom
- April to July
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Wet, Average
- USDA zones
- 7–10
- Leaves
- Opposite, narrow
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Fibrous, clump-forming and easy to move
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 13 states
When it flowers
Longleaf Milkweed blooms April to July, peaking in May and June.
How to identify it
- Long, narrow, closely spaced opposite leaves.
- Flowers green-white strongly tinted purple, in drooping axillary clusters.
- Moist pine savanna and flatwoods.
Ecology and wildlife value
Another fire-dependent coastal plain species with a shrinking habitat base.
Growing longleaf milkweed
Seldom cultivated.
Seed needs about 30 days of cold-moist stratification. Fibrous, clump-forming and easy to move. See how to plant milkweed seed for the full method.
Cautions
Standard milkweed cautions. More on milkweed toxicity.
Where longleaf milkweed grows
Recorded in 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia.
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 329558-2. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170230. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158748. 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). Longleaf Milkweed (Asclepias longifolia). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/longleaf-milkweed/
"Longleaf Milkweed (Asclepias longifolia)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/longleaf-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Longleaf Milkweed (Asclepias longifolia)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/longleaf-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_specieslongleafmilkweed,
title = {Longleaf Milkweed (Asclepias longifolia)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/longleaf-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}