Zizotes Milkweed
Asclepias oenotheroides Schltdl. & Cham.
A low, sprawling Texas and Southwest milkweed with wavy-edged leaves and greenish-cream flower clusters arising from the leaf axils. It blooms for most of the year and re-sprouts endlessly after mowing, which makes it one of the most reliable monarch hosts on the southern plains.
Also called Side-cluster Milkweed, Hierba de Zizotes.
- Height
- 8 in–2 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft–2.5 ft
- Flowers
- green, cream
- Bloom
- March to October
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry, Average
- USDA zones
- 7–10
- Leaves
- Opposite, oblong
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Rhizomatous, spreads by root
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 5 states
When it flowers
Zizotes Milkweed blooms March to October, peaking in April and May and September.
How to identify it
- Flower clusters emerge from the leaf axils along the stem, not just at the tip.
- Leaves with distinctly wavy or crinkled margins.
- Low sprawling growth, frequently in mown roadsides and lawns.
- Hoods are long and slender, projecting well past the corolla.
Ecology and wildlife value
Its long season and tolerance of mowing make it disproportionately important to both the spring and fall monarch migrations through Texas, and it is a mainstay for queen butterflies.
Growing zizotes milkweed
Tough, drought-proof and quietly spreading. Increasingly offered by Texas native nurseries.
Seed needs about 30 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 zizotes milkweed grows
Recorded in 5 states: Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas.
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 94504-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170282. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 158753. 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). Zizotes Milkweed (Asclepias oenotheroides). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/zizotes-milkweed/
"Zizotes Milkweed (Asclepias oenotheroides)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/zizotes-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Zizotes Milkweed (Asclepias oenotheroides)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/zizotes-milkweed/.
@misc{milkweedusa_specieszizotesmilkweed,
title = {Zizotes Milkweed (Asclepias oenotheroides)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/zizotes-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}