Mead’s Milkweed
Asclepias meadii Torr. ex A. Gray
A federally threatened tallgrass-prairie milkweed with a single nodding cluster of greenish-cream flowers on a slim glaucous stem. It survives almost entirely on hay meadows and prairie remnants that have never been plowed.
- Height
- 1 ft–2 ft
- Spread
- 8 in–1.2 ft
- Flowers
- green, cream
- Bloom
- May to June
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Average, Dry
- USDA zones
- 4–7
- Leaves
- Opposite, oblong
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Rhizomatous, spreads by root
- Stratification
- 60 days cold-moist
- Range
- 4 states
When it flowers
Mead’s Milkweed blooms May to June, peaking in May and June.
How to identify it
- One drooping flower cluster per stem, pale green-cream.
- Smooth blue-green leaves in widely spaced opposite pairs.
- Found only on high-quality unplowed tallgrass prairie.
Ecology and wildlife value
Listed as Threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. Mid-summer haying prevents seed set, and most surviving populations are single clones that cannot self-pollinate.
Growing mead’s milkweed
Legally protected. Do not collect seed, plants or cuttings. Report sightings to your state heritage program.
Seed needs about 60 days of cold-moist stratification. Rhizomatous, spreads by root. See how to plant milkweed seed for the full method.
Cautions
Federally threatened. Collection is prohibited. More on milkweed toxicity.
Where mead’s milkweed grows
Recorded in 4 states: Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri.
Distribution is generalized to state level. For county-level maps see USDA PLANTS and BONAP.
Frequently asked questions
Is any milkweed endangered?
Yes. Mead’s milkweed (A. meadii) is federally listed as Threatened, and Welsh’s milkweed (A. welshii) is listed as Threatened in Utah and Arizona. Many more species, purple milkweed, red milkweed and wheel milkweed among them, are listed at state level.
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 94445-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170259. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158749. 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). Mead’s Milkweed (Asclepias meadii). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/meads-milkweed/
"Mead’s Milkweed (Asclepias meadii)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/meads-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Mead’s Milkweed (Asclepias meadii)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/meads-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesmeadsmilkweed,
title = {Mead’s Milkweed (Asclepias meadii)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/meads-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}