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

Strong

Native to Virginia. 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?

Asclepias verticillata — bloom photograph — George F Mayfield · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Perennial
Bloom: July to September

JFMAMJJASOND

Not yet recorded · Leaves

Recorded in 68 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

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

1 of 7

Limestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

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.

Wet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

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.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Sandhills

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

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 79 animals.

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Northern Flicker
Colaptes auratus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Orange-crowned Warbler
Vermivora celata
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Orchard Oriole
Icterus spurius
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Pine Siskin
Carduelis pinus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Pine Warbler
Dendroica pinus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Prairie Warbler
Dendroica discolor
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Purple Finch
Carpodacus purpureus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Picoides borealis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-headed Woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Regulus calendula
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Spotted Sandpiper
Actitis macularius
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Tufted Titmouse
Baeolophus bicolor
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
Birds. 1 shared habitat
White-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys
Birds. 1 shared habitat
White-eyed Vireo
Vireo griseus
Birds. 1 shared habitat

All wildlife of Virginia

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

1AntsRecorded seed interactions

Formica rufibarbis

Beetles 2

Trichius piger
Typocerus sinuatus