Oval-leaf Milkweed
Asclepias ovalifolia Decne.
A compact northern-prairie milkweed under two feet tall, with neat oval leaves and small creamy-white flower clusters, found on sandy prairie and open oak savanna from Michigan to Montana.
Also called Dwarf Milkweed.
- Height
- 8 in–1.7 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft–2.5 ft
- Flowers
- white, green
- Bloom
- June to July
- Light
- Full sun, Part shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry, Average
- USDA zones
- 3–7
- Leaves
- Opposite, ovate
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Rhizomatous, spreads by root
- Stratification
- 60 days cold-moist
- Range
- 9 states
When it flowers
Oval-leaf Milkweed blooms June to July, peaking in June.
How to identify it
- Short stature with evenly spaced oval opposite leaves, downy beneath.
- One or two small terminal clusters of creamy white to greenish flowers.
- Northern prairie, sand savanna and open jack pine barrens.
Ecology and wildlife value
A useful monarch host in the northern breeding range and a good early-summer nectar plant on sandy prairie.
Growing oval-leaf milkweed
A well-behaved small milkweed for northern gardens, spreading slowly by rhizome. Needs a long cold stratification.
Seed needs about 60 days of cold-moist stratification. Rhizomatous, spreads by root. See how to plant milkweed seed for the full method.
Cautions
Standard milkweed cautions. More on milkweed toxicity.
Where oval-leaf milkweed grows
Recorded in 9 states: Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
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 94507-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170264. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 47905. 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). Oval-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/ovalleaf-milkweed/
"Oval-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/ovalleaf-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Oval-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/ovalleaf-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesovalleafmilkweed,
title = {Oval-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/ovalleaf-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}