Purple Milkweed

Asclepias purpurascens

Plant Type: Forb (Deciduous)
Landscape Layer: Herbaceous
Sun: ☀️ Full Sun, ⛅ Part Sun
Moisture: 🏜️ Dry, 💧 Regular
Soil: Clay, Loam, Sand, Organic / Peat, Calcareous
Bloom: May, June, July
Sociability: S3 – Small colonies

Pollinator Value

🐛 Larval Host: Danaus plexippus, Pyrrharctia isabella, Hyalophora cecropia, Euchaetes egle, Cycnia tenera, Phragmatobia lineata, Trichordestra legitima, Spodoptera frugiperda, Melanchra adjuncta, Papaipema nebris
S13+S15 10 verified Eastern NA
❄️ Winter Food Source: Follicles split to release comose seeds through autumn and winter, providing silky floss used as nesting material by small birds. Persistent erect stems and empty pods offer minor structural habitat through the dormant season.
S10+S57

Ecology & Conservation

Proximity Score: 2
Native Status: ❌ Outaouais ❌ Ottawa ❌ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: SE
CEC Eco-Regions: 8 – Eastern Temperate Forests, 8.1 – Mixed Wood Plains, 8.1.7 – Northeastern Coastal Zone
Rarity Notes: Globally ranked G4 but nationally N1 in Canada, with Ontario as the only Canadian jurisdiction (S1 – Critically Imperiled). Rare throughout its range in eastern North America; endangered in Massachusetts and Wisconsin, extirpated in Rhode Island (S4, S61). Not listed under SARA (S26). New England populations have declined from 82 historically to only a few today (S61).
S22+S4+S61+S26
Rarity Ranks: ON S1 – Critically Imperiled
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: Purple milkweed occupies dry to mesic openings along woodland edges, oak savannas, and prairie-forest ecotones. In Ontario it is critically imperiled (S1), persisting in scattered southern sites on well-drained soils. Its habitat preference for partially shaded borders rather than open prairie distinguishes it from common milkweed, and it is typically found in higher-quality remnant habitats.
S10+S7+S22+S61

Permaculture & Companion Planting

Roles: Fortress/Barrier, Pollinator Attractor
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fortress/Barrier: S10 keyword match: prickl (supporting signal only); S61 keyword match: thorns? (supporting signal only)] | Pollinator Attractor: S73 [HIGH]: S64 Xerces listed (source-classified)]

Medicinal Properties
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Category: Dermatological
S29 wart removal
Notes: PFAF rates medicinal value 1/5. The milky latex is applied topically as a traditional cure for warts (S29, S4). No ethnobotanical uses recorded in Moerman (S28). The genus contains cardiac glycosides, resinoids, and alkaloids (S29), so internal use is not recommended.
S29+S4+S28

Edibility & Foraging
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✅ Edible

Foraging Notes

PFAF rates edibility 2/5. Edible parts (by analogy with closely related A. speciosa per S29): young shoots and leaves cooked as asparagus substitute, flower buds raw or cooked, young seed pods cooked, flowers used to make sugary syrup. Raw consumption of leaves not recommended. Contains cardiac glycosides so caution is warranted.

S29

Toxicity

△ Low Toxicity

Not listed in Cornell poisonous plants database (S38). However, LBJ Wildflower Center warns all parts are poisonous in large quantities, with symptoms including vomiting, stupor, weakness, and spasms; toxic principles are cardiac glycosides and resinoids (S4). PFAF notes that many Asclepias species contain toxic resinoids, alkaloids, and cardiac glycosides and are usually avoided by grazing animals (S29). Mammalian herbivores rarely consume the bitter-tasting foliage (S10).

S38+S4+S29+S10

Seed Source