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Curtiss' Milkweed

Asclepias curtissii

Found in Florida scrub and dry sandhills on ancient dune ridges. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you

71
Strong

Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 35%

Light
4 or more hours of direct sun
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 24 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

Florida scrub

Evergreen scrub oaks, sand pine and rosemary on deep, white, drought-prone sand ridges, burned rarely but intensely; distinct from the longleaf and turkey oak sandhills.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 103 animals.

All wildlife of Florida

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

15CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Asclepias

  • Danaus plexippusMonarch
  • Agathodes monstralisSky-Pointing Moth
  • Cycnia collarisUnexpected Cycnia
  • Cycnia teneraDelicate Cycnia, Dogbane Tiger Moth
  • Danaus eresimusSoldier, Tropical Queen
  • Danaus gilippusQueen
  • Euchaetes egleMilkweed Tussock Moth or Milkweed Tiger Moth
  • Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
  • Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
  • Pygarctia spragueiSprague's Pygarctia Moth
Show all 15
  • Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
  • Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
  • Pygarctia eglenensis
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
59BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Asclepias

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Asclepias

  • Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Apocynaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankS3
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Sources