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(Asclepias viridiflora)
Green Comet Milkweed

Host Plant: Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus)

Nectar Plant: Monarchs and Bumblebees

Flower Color: Green, yellow, pink

Growth Habit: herbaceous perennial that grows 1 to 2 feet tall

Range in North America: Most of the United States, except the Pacific Northwest, California, and New England.  It is also in Canada.

Exposure: Full sun, but can tolerate partial shade

Hardiness: Zones 4-10

Soil Requirements: dry, mesic, to rocky soil

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Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)

Green flower cluster of Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora).
Green flowers of Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) — Patrick Alexander from Las Cruces, NM, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Green comet milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), a member of the Apocynaceae (Dogbane Family), is a herbaceous perennial that grows from 1 to 2 feet tall and has yellow, green, or pink flowers that bloom in the late spring and summer (roughly May to August). The leaves are simple, opposite, entire (sometimes crenate), lanceolate in shape and are 3-6 inches in length and 1-3 inches wide. This plant grows in zones 4-10 and likes open areas with full sun that have moist to mesic soil, though it can tolerate partial shade.

More information on this plant can be found on this blog post.

Alternative Names

Green-flower milkweed, green milkweed, short green milkweed, and wand milkweed

Hosted Species

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Monarch butterfly on green flower.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus)

Queen butterfly on yellow flower.
ALAN SCHMIERER, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bumblebees use this plant as a nectar source.

Range of Green Comet Milkweed in the United States and Canada

Range map of Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) in the United States and Canada.

 

Habitat

Prairie habitat.
Sixflashphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0u003c/au003e, via Wikimedia Commons

This Milkweed is found in places with full sun such as prairies, sandy areas, open woodlands, grasslands/fields, and limestone/serpentine glades. This plant can also be planted in places with partial shade and mesic soil. This plant is rare in some parts of its range.

The genus name, Asclepias, is the Greek name for the God of Medicine. The species name, viridiflora, is Latin for “green-flowered” (NC State Extension).

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Native Location

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone

Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9, Zone 10

Exposure Requirements

Full Sun, Part Shade/Part Sun

Plant Habit

Herbaceous

Soil Requirements

Dry, Medium

Hosted Species

Danaus gilippus (Queen), Danaus plexippus (Monarch)

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Green Comet Milkweed”

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