Quercus

Purple Milkweed

Asclepias purpurascens

Native to Kentucky (estimated)

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including KY

Genus host records with ranges including KY · Asclepias

  • Danaus plexippusMonarch
  • Cycnia collarisUnexpected Cycnia
  • Cycnia teneraDelicate Cycnia, Dogbane Tiger Moth
  • Euchaetes egleMilkweed Tussock Moth or Milkweed Tiger Moth
  • Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
  • Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
  • Pygarctia spragueiSprague's Pygarctia Moth
  • Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
Show all 13
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
  • Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
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)
Flies 3
  • Physocephala tibialis
  • Spallanzania hesperidarum
  • Trichophora ruficauda

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Adult butterflies / moths 10
  • Anosia plexippus
  • Argynnis cybele
  • Euphyes verna
  • Limochores taumas
  • Pamphila hobomok
  • Speyeria idalia
  • Thecla calanus
  • Thecla sylvinus
  • Vanessa atalanta
  • Vanessa huntera

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other wasps 1
  • Priononyx atrata

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Apocynaceae
Hardiness
Zones 3a–8b
Flower color
Pink or purple

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

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Purple Milkweed

Conservation status

Kentucky rankS4
Global rankG4G5
KY statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources