Common Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca

A colony-forming milkweed with fragrant pink flower clusters and broad leaves. Found in prairies, floodplains, pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

70

Strong

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

Profile 94%

Height: 3–5 feet
Spread: 8–12 inches per stem, colonies spread
Light: Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to average

Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

Asclepias syriaca — bloom photograph — Amos Oliver Doyle · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Herbaceous perennial
Leaves: Deciduous
Bloom: June to August
Fruiting season: July to September

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Recorded in 101 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020 — Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Habitats

Prairies and grasslands; floodplain and bottomland forests; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. 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

Beetles 2

Photinus pyralis
Trichius piger

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Flies 13

Anthrax sinuosa
Archytas analis
Belvosia bifasciata
Belvosia unifasciata
Cistogaster occidua
Culex stimulans
Mallota illinoensis
Odontomyia cincta
Physocephala texana
Scepsis fulvicollis

Show all 13

Spallanzania hesperidarum
Stomoxys calcitrans
Tropidia quadrata

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Adult butterflies / moths 13

Achalarus lycidas
Agrotis ypsilon
Anosia plexippus
Argynnis cybele
Drasteria erechtea
Limochores taumas
Loxostege similalis
Papilio asterias
Pholisora catullus
Polygonia interrogationis

Show all 13

Speyeria idalia
Thecla calanus
Vanessa atalanta

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other wasps 7

Ammobia ichneumonea
Bembix nubillipennis
Cerceris clypeata
Leionotus arvensis
Priononyx atrata
Priononyx thomae
Tachytes mandibularis

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other insects 5

Euschistus variolarius
Lygaeus turcicus
Lygus pratensis
Podisus spinosus
Sinea diadema

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

No records yet · Ants

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Apocynaceae
Hardiness: Zones 3a–9b
Flower color: Green, pink, purple or white
Fruit begins: July
Fruit ends: September

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

Give spreading roots room in a meadow or naturalized patch. All parts are poisonous if eaten. NC State Extension

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “June to August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Flower color · “Green, pink, purple or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Fruit ends · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Hardiness · “Zones 3a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Height · “3–5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
Soil · “Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
Spread · “8–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox

Recognizing it

Opposite, broad leaves with downy undersides; warty seed pods and milky sap. Identification source

Conservation status

Virginia rank	S5
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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How to check your spot

Growing cautions

Spreads aggressively. Spreads rapidly by rhizomes and self-seeds. Tennessee Smart Yards

For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.

Sources