Mead's milkweed

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	Threatened and Endangered Species Factsheet

Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Mead's milkweed

Scientific Latin name: Asclepias meadii

Status: Threatened in the U. S. and Endangered in Iowa

Description: Mead’s milkweed is a perennial herb that may grow to two feet in height. Plants generally bear four to six pairs of lance-shaped, hairless leaves. At the end of each flowering stem is a single cluster of 10 to 20 greenish-cream flowers produced in late May and early June. Slender, erect pods mature from mid-June to early September. A distinctive feature of the plant is its bent or drooping flowering stem.

Habitat: Mead’s milkweed is found predominately in virgin tallgrass prairie with deep, unplowed silty loams, and chert-lime glades. It occurs alone or in small colonies no larger than 20, is very scattered and rare.

Current Iowa range: Adair, Clarke, Decatur, Ringgold and Warren counties.

Do something WILD!: Start a prairie conservation youth group in your community.

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