Asclepias welshii

Plant: perennial herb; stems erect or ascending, unbranched, 20-100 cm tall, densely woolly above, glabrate below; milky sap Leaves: opposite, the principal ones with petioles to 7 mm long, the blades (ob)ovate to mostly broadly oblong-elliptic, 6-11 cm long, 4-8 cm broad, rounded at the base, obtuse to mostly rounded-truncate at the apex, apiculate, densely woolly when young, becoming glabrous especially beneath INFLORESCENCE: UMBELS lateral at the upper nodes, compactly-flowered, ca. 3-4 cm broad, the peduncles 2-4 cm long Flowers: large; calyx lobes 6-8 mm long; corolla cream with a rose tinge, the lobes 6-7 mm long; hoods cream, ascending, widening upward to a truncate apex, 3-4 mm long, ca. 2 mm broad at the top, ca. 1 mm longer than the gynostegium, the horns radially flat, attached to about the middle of the hoods, sickle-shaped, abruptly incurved and more or less horizontally exserted 1-1.5 mm over the stigma head; anther wings prominently projected outward near the middle, the upper portion 1.4 mm long, the lower portion slightly shorter; corpusculum 0.4 mm long, the pollinia ca. 1.1 mm long Fruit: FOLLICLES spreading to pendulous on spreading pedicels, 4-7 cm long, bearing soft, subulate tubercles Misc: on sand dunes in sagebrush, juniper, pine, and oak communities; 1700-1900 m (5600-6200 ft); Jun-Jul REFERENCES: Sundell, Eric. 1994. Asclepiadaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 169-187.

Nabhan et al 2015

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: This rhizomatous plant, to 1 m, has upright, unbranched stems that are densely woolly with round, compact flowered umbels at upper nodes. Leaves: The leaves are opposite and oval to ovate and densely woolly when young, becoming smooth as they age, especially below. Flowers: Flowers hairy, cream colored with a rose tinge, the hoods cream colored Fruits: Produces pendulous pods that are 1.5 to 3 inches. Ecology: Found on sand dunes in sagebrush, pi-on juniper, and oak communities, from 5,500-6,500 ft (1676-1981 m); flowers May-July. Distribution: Found in very northern Arizona and in extreme southern Utah. Synonyms: None Editor: AHazelton 2015