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green-flowered milkweed

green-flowered milkweed (Asclepias viridis)
Photo © Christopher David Benda

Features and Behaviors

FEATURES
Green-flowered milkweed is a perennial herb. Its leaves are arranged alternately along the stem. Each simple leaf is entire and oblong or lance-shaped. The green-violet flowers are borne in an umbrellalike cluster at the stem tip. The fruit is a dry follicle that splits along one side at maturity to release the seeds contained within it. Green-flowered milkweed may attain a height of one to three feet.

BEHAVIORS
Green‐flowered milkweed may be found in the southern one‐third of Illinois and Logan County. It  grows in prairies, dry woods and fields. Flowers are produced from May through July. Pollination is accomplished by insects. Seeds are dispersed by wind.

Illinois Range

Taxonomy

​Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae

Illinois Status: common, native