Asclepias curassavica
Common names
Blood flower, tropical milkweed
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Orange, Red/Pink
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.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Origin
South America
Reason for introduction
Mainly ornamental (as food for inrtroduced monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus)
Tolerances
Cold intolerant. Once established rather drought tolerant.
Life cycle and dispersal
Short-lived perennial - often annual in New Zealand. Reproduces exclusively by seed. Seed is long-lived and forms a large seed bank. Dispersed by wind and also deliberately moved by humans as a food source for introduced monarch butterflies.
Other information
Etymology
asclepias: After Asclepius, a Greek from the 6th century BC who was learned in the medicinal properties of plants