Asclepias curassavica
Common name
Blood flower, tropical milkweed
Family
Asclepiadaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Conservation status
Not assessed
Habitat
An uncommon casual. Mainly an urban weed of derelict land, ill kept gardens and street pavements, clogged gutters, parks and similar wasteland within built up areas. Occasionally locally abundant, as on Rangitoto Island where in 1995 it was once the dominant species in an old quarry pit - it has not been seen there since.
Flower colours
Orange, Red/Pink
Origin
South America
Etymology
asclepias: After Asclepius, a Greek from the 6th century BC who was learned in the medicinal properties of plants
Reason For Introduction
Mainly ornamental (as food for Monarch Butterflies)
Life Cycle Comments
Short-lived perennial - often annual in New Zealand
Reproduction
Exclusively by seed
Seed
Long-lived forms a large seed bank
Dispersal
Wind dispersed. Also deliberately moved by Humans as a food source for Monarch Butterflies
Tolerances
Cold intolerant. Once established rather drought tolerant.