States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaFloridaVirginia
Menu

Longleaf Milkweed

Asclepias longifolia

Found in wet pine savannas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

66
Strong

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

Profile 71%

Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to wet
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Fruiting season
June to July

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Height and bloom: NC species account not read yet.

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

Searched in old botany books; not found yet.

Recorded in 5 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

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

Pine savannas

Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype
Sandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · 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
  • Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Show all 13
  • 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
Flower color
White, green or purple
Fruit begins
June
Fruit ends
July
Growing sources and scope

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG4G5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

Will it fit your yard?

Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.

Choose a county to begin.

How to check your spot

Sources