Slimpod Milkweed
Asclepias quinquedentata A. Gray
A slight, wiry milkweed of Arizona and New Mexico mountain woodland with very narrow leaves and small cream-green flowers, producing the exceptionally slim pods that give it its name.
Also called Fivetooth Milkweed.
- Height
- 1 ft–2.5 ft
- Spread
- 8 in–1.3 ft
- Flowers
- cream, green
- Bloom
- July to September
- Light
- Part shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
- USDA zones
- 6–9
- Leaves
- Opposite, narrow
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Deep taproot, resents transplanting
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 2 states
When it flowers
Slimpod Milkweed blooms July to September, peaking in August.
How to identify it
- Very narrow opposite leaves on thin, often leaning stems.
- Small cream to greenish flowers in sparse clusters.
- Pods notably slender and pencil-thin.
Ecology and wildlife value
A minor but genuine monsoon-season host in southwestern mountain woodland.
Growing slimpod milkweed
Not in cultivation.
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 slimpod 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 94582-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170234. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158757. 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
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Milkweed USA. (2026). Slimpod Milkweed (Asclepias quinquedentata). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/slimpod-milkweed/
"Slimpod Milkweed (Asclepias quinquedentata)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/slimpod-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Slimpod Milkweed (Asclepias quinquedentata)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/slimpod-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_speciesslimpodmilkweed,
title = {Slimpod Milkweed (Asclepias quinquedentata)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/slimpod-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}