Mahogany Milkweed
Asclepias hypoleuca (A. Gray) Woodson
A handsome sky-island milkweed whose broad leaves are conspicuously white beneath, carrying nodding clusters of deep mahogany-red flowers with pale cream hoods through the monsoon season.
Also called White-leaf Milkweed.
- Height
- 1 ft–2.5 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft–2 ft
- Flowers
- maroon, cream
- Bloom
- June to September
- Light
- Part shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
- USDA zones
- 6–9
- Leaves
- Opposite, ovate
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Deep taproot, resents transplanting
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 2 states
When it flowers
Mahogany Milkweed blooms June to September, peaking in July and August.
How to identify it
- Leaf undersides distinctly white or chalky, which is the giveaway character.
- Flowers rich mahogany-brown to maroon with contrasting cream hoods.
- Oak woodland and canyon slopes in the Arizona and New Mexico mountains.
Ecology and wildlife value
A monsoon-season host and nectar source in the borderland sky islands, where it often grows alongside Lemmon’s milkweed.
Growing mahogany milkweed
Occasionally offered by specialist Southwest nurseries. Needs sharp drainage and light shade at low elevation.
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 mahogany milkweed grows
Recorded in 2 states: Arizona, New Mexico.
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 21202-2. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170298. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158742. 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). Mahogany Milkweed (Asclepias hypoleuca). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/mahogany-milkweed/
"Mahogany Milkweed (Asclepias hypoleuca)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/mahogany-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Mahogany Milkweed (Asclepias hypoleuca)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/mahogany-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesmahoganymilkweed,
title = {Mahogany Milkweed (Asclepias hypoleuca)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/mahogany-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}