Asclepias nivea L.

• Title

  Asclepias nivea L.

• Author(s)

  Nathaniel Lord Britton, Frances W. Horne

• Scientific Name

  Asclepias nivea L.

• Description

  Flora Borinqueña Asclepias nivea Algodoncillo blanco White Milkweed Family Asclepiadaceae Milkweed Family Asclepias nivea Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 215. 1752. This, and Asclepias curassavica, also illustrated and described in this work, are the only species of the genus inhabiting the West Indies. They are often found near together, growing in similar situations, and, except for the color of the corolla, are very much alike. Asclepias nivea is not as widely distributed as Asclepias curassavica, but grows in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Santo Domingo, St. Thomas, St. Martin, Saha and Martinique. The corolla is white, that of its relative red-purple or rarely yellow, but the foliage and fruit are so similar, that unless the plants are in bloom it is uncertain as to which species they actually belong. This similarity suggests that the white-flowered plants may be albino variants of the others, but we follow previous authors in regarding the two as distinct species; a hybrid between them has been described. For an account of the genus Asclepias we refer to our description of Asclepias curassavica. Asclepias nivea (snow-white), is about 0.6 meters high, or lower, its leaves oblong, or lanceolate, from 5 to 10 centimeters long, the flower-clusters usually several. The flowers themselves are often a little smaller than those of Asclepias curassavica, the corolla-lobes not more than 6 millimeters long, and the horns of the hoods smaller and narrower, the pods sometimes more slender, the seeds a little smaller. A few plants with pure yellow flowers and leaves just like those of Asclepias nivea were detected by Mrs. Britton near Laguna Tortuguero in 1928, we suppose this may be the hybrid between the two species and have included an illustration of it on the plate of Asclepias nivea.