Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) Sand Lake Wetland Management District 01 (14386831375)

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Description: Asclepias incarnata, commonly called swamp milkweed, is an erect, clump-forming, native plant found in wet meadows, along wetland margins, and in river bottomlands in the Prairie Pothole Region. It grows 3-5' tall on branching stems. Small, fragrant (smells like bubblegum, seriously the flowers smell like bubblegum), pink to mauve flowers (1/4" wide). The flowers appear in tight clusters (umbels) at the stem ends in summer. Narrow, lance-shaped, taper-pointed leaves are 3-6" long. Stems exude a toxic white milky latex like sap when cut. Flowers are followed by attractive seed pods (to 4" long) which split open when ripe releasing silky-haired seeds easily carried by the wind. Flowers are very attractive to butterflies as a nectar source. In addition, swamp milkweed is an important food source for the larval stage of Monarch butterflies. Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS. Date: 10 July 2011, 09:28. Source: Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) Sand Lake Wetland Management District 01. Author: USFWS Mountain-Prairie.