# Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens)

> The most intensely colored milkweed in eastern North America, with deep magenta-purple flower heads held upright above broad leaves, blooming a few weeks before common milkweed. Uncommon and declining nearly everywhere, and worth every effort to establish.

Source: https://milkweedusa.com/species/purple-milkweed/  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Milkweed USA)

## Summary

The most intensely colored milkweed in eastern North America, with deep magenta-purple flower heads held upright above broad leaves, blooming a few weeks before common milkweed. Uncommon and declining nearly everywhere, and worth every effort to establish.

## Key facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Asclepias purpurascens L. |
| Genus | Asclepias |
| Family | Apocynaceae |
| Common names | Purple Milkweed |
| Status | Native |
| Height | 2 ft–4 ft |
| Spread | 1.5 ft–2.5 ft |
| Flower color | purple, magenta |
| Bloom period | May to July |
| Light | Full sun, Part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average, Dry |
| USDA zones | 3-8 |
| Leaf arrangement | opposite |
| Leaf shape | ovate |
| Sap | Milky latex |
| Root system | Deep taproot, resents transplanting |
| Seed stratification | 30 days cold-moist |
| Monarch value (0-5) | 4 |
| Garden value (0-5) | 5 |
| Nectar value (0-5) | 4 |
| US states recorded | Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, West Virginia |

## Identification

- Flowers are a saturated purple-magenta, far darker than the dusty pink of common milkweed.
- Clusters are held erect at the top of the stem, not drooping.
- Blooms noticeably earlier than common milkweed.
- Leaves broad with a short abrupt tip, downy underneath.

## Ecology

A species of woodland edges, savannas and open thickets, declining because fire suppression has closed those habitats. Listed as rare, threatened or endangered in more than a dozen states.

## Growing

Excellent in a garden: upright, non-running and spectacular in flower. Tolerates part shade. Slow from seed and slow to establish; give it three years before judging it.

## Cautions

Standard milkweed cautions. Never dig plants from the wild.

## Questions

**What is the prettiest milkweed?**

Purple milkweed (A. purpurascens) gets most votes for flower color, a deep magenta unmatched in the genus, with showy milkweed and butterfly weed close behind.

## References

- Plants of the World Online: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:94577-1
- GBIF: https://www.gbif.org/species/3170271
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/125380
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepias_purpurascens
- BONAP county map: https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Asclepias%20purpurascens.png
- NatureServe: https://explorer.natureserve.org/Search?searchTerm=Asclepias%20purpurascens

## Photographs

- Asclepias purpurascens1 (Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_purpurascens1.jpg
- Asclepias purpurascens - Flickr - peganum (peganum from Small Dole, England, CC BY-SA 2.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_purpurascens_-_Flickr_-_peganum.jpg
- Asclepias purpurascens - Flickr - FritzFlohrReynolds (Fritz Flohr Reynolds from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_purpurascens_-_Flickr_-_FritzFlohrReynolds.jpg
- Purple milkweed flowers (Steepcone at English Wikipedia, Public domain): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Purple_milkweed_flowers.jpg
- Flower -Milkweed 095 (Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flower_-Milkweed_095.jpg
- Asclepias cf. purpurascens (9344316398) (peganum from Henfield, England, CC BY-SA 2.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_cf._purpurascens_(9344316398).jpg
- Asclepias cf. purpurascens (9344334762) (peganum from Henfield, England, CC BY-SA 2.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_cf._purpurascens_(9344334762).jpg
- Asclepias cf. purpurascens (9344315350) (peganum from Henfield, England, CC BY-SA 2.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_cf._purpurascens_(9344315350).jpg

## How to cite

Milkweed USA. (2026). Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens). https://milkweedusa.com/species/purple-milkweed/