Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Found in glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone; glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock; prairies and grasslands; forests and woodlands; sandhills; pine flatwoods; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 1–2.5 feet
- Spread
- 1–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 1.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 44 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- July to September
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 51 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock
Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 79 animals.
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Chuck-will's-widowCaprimulgus carolinensis
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Common Ground-doveColumbina passerina
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Who uses this plant?
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
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
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
1AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Formica rufibarbis
Beetles 2
- Trichius piger
- Typocerus sinuatus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 29
- Archytas analis
- Calythea albicincta
- Cistogaster occidua
- Ennyomma globosa
- Eristalis latifrons
- Exoprosopa fasciata
- Exorista confinis
- Graphomyia americana
- Limnophora narona
- Lucilia sylvarum
Show all 29
- Orthoneura nitida
- Paradidyma singularis
- Phorantha purpurascens
- Phormia regina
- Physocephala texana
- Physocephala tibialis
- Sarcophaga sinuata
- Scepsis fulvicollis
- Senotainia trilineata
- Sepsis violacea
- Siphoplagia anomala
- Siphoplagia flaccidirostris
- Spallanzania hesperidarum
- Sphaerophoria cylindrica
- Systoechus vulgaris
- Trichophora ruficauda
- Trichopoda pennipes
- Tropidia quadrata
- Xanthomelana arcuata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 9
- Achalarus lycidas
- Anosia plexippus
- Argynnis cybele
- Euphyes verna
- Limochores taumas
- Pholisora catullus
- Pholisora hayhurstii
- Phyciodes tharos
- Vanessa atalanta
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 20
- Ammobia ichneumonea
- Ammobia pennsylvanica
- Anacrabro ocellatus
- Anoplius illinoensis
- Astatus unicolor
- Bembix nubillipennis
- Cerceris clypeata
- Cerceris fulvipes
- Cerceris raui
- Cerceris robertsonii
Show all 20
- Eumenes fraternus
- Isodontia apicalis
- Leionotus arvensis
- Polistes variatus
- Priononyx atrata
- Priononyx thomae
- Sphex nigricans
- Tachytes distinctus
- Tachytes mandibularis
- Tachytes pepticus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 1
- Phymata wolffii
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Plant details
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–9b
- Flower color
- Green or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to September” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Flower color · “Green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–2.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Spread · “1–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S4S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads by rhizomes. Spreads by seed and rhizomes. NC State Extension Plant Toolbox
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications