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Prairie milkweed produces one and a half to two inch balls of 30-100 greenish-white flowers in the axils of a few of the mid-stem and upper leaves; the flowers are supported on 1/2"-3/4" pedicels. Each flower is about 1/8" across and 1/4" long; the flowers are a variation on the typical (complex) milkweed morphology with 5 sepals, a 5-lobed corolla with 5 petals (often with purple blotches at their tips) that are reflected backwards to cover the top of the pedicel, 5 hoods without horns, and a short central column that rises above the hoods; there is a distinct gap between the bases of the petals and the crown. Seedpods are 4-5" long with a fat base (attached to the pedicel) tapering rapidly to a narrow tip. Prairie milkweed can be confused with whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) — both occur in Jackson Park — but whorled milkweed has even narrower (grass-like) leaves than prairie milkweed, is a shorter plant, and has pure white flower that do bear horns.

Asclepias

Asclepias hirtella

prairie milkweed [Blooms: Jun-Aug]

Butterfly weed has clusters of 8-25 flowers, in various shades of orange with touches of yellow or red, that arise from the stems and leaf axils. Individual flowers have a typical milkweed morphology, with the petals reflexed backwards over the flower stalk and the complex corona protruding. The central column of the corona in A. tuberosa is always yellow regardless of the shade of the remainder of the flower. This is the only Illinois milkweed with orange flowers and has narrower leaves than all other local milkweeds except whorled milkweed (A. verticillata, which has white flowers).

Asclepias

Asclepias tuberosa

butterfly milkweed [Blooms: Jun-Sep]