Asclepias erosa aka Desert Milkweed

Asclepias erosa lives for more than one year. Its common names are desert milkweed and jagged milkweed. It is in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. Its native range covers the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Records list Arizona, California, and Utah. They also list Sonora and northern Baja California. It grows in deserts and dry lands with shrubs. In California, it grows on dry slopes and in washes. These sites lie below about 4,920 feet [1,500 metres]. It is not native to Britain or Ireland.

Plants reach about 2.6 feet [0.8 metres] in height. The source gives no width for full-grown plants. The stems and leaves hold latex, a milky sap. Leaf edges can make the leaves hard to eat. The species account gives no leaf shape or colour. Each flower has both male and female organs. Bees, butterflies, moths, and other insects help pollinate the flowers. The source gives no flower colour for this species. It does not say when the plant blooms. It gives no details of this species' fruit, either.

The species account lists light, sandy soil for garden use. The soil must drain well, but it can be poor. Plants cope with soils that are mildly acid or mildly alkaline. They also grow in neutral soil. The plant needs an open site and cannot grow in shade. The listed soil moisture range runs from dry to moist. This range is wider than its desert home might suggest. The source lists garden beds as a place to grow it. It gives no firm rating for hardiness in Britain. Its in-depth growing notes cover the genus, not this species. Those notes cannot confirm this species' care needs, pests, or diseases.

Plants For A Future lists food uses for boiled leaves and flowers. It says the leaves taste a little bitter. The flowers taste sweet. It also notes that people trim leaf edges before use. Kawaiisu people and other California tribes chewed gum from dried sap. These past uses do not prove that it is safe to eat. The source reports no confirmed cases of poisoning from this species. Its warning about toxic compounds covers milkweeds as a group. The safety of this species thus remains unclear here. The source records no use as medicine. Latex from the leaves and stems can also yield rubber. The source does not flag the plant as weedy.