Whorled milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) is the slenderest and most drought-tolerant of the common native milkweeds, a fine-textured perennial of prairies, glades, and dry open ground across most of central and eastern North America. It grows 1 to 2 feet tall on wiry unbranched stems clothed in narrow, needle-like leaves set in whorls, and carries small umbels of greenish-white flowers from midsummer into early fall, later than most milkweeds. Like all Asclepias it is a monarch host plant, and its late nectar feeds bees and butterflies when little else is flowering. It wants full sun and lean, dry soil, and it is tougher and less bulky than common milkweed, though it spreads by rhizome and can form a wandering colony on good ground. All parts are toxic, and whorled milkweed is one of the more poisonous milkweeds to grazing livestock, so keep it out of pastures and hayfields.
Native: 40 US states + 3 CA provinces
Climate fit: broad (87/100)
Pollinator
Filler
Border
Light
Full sun / Part shade
Water
Low water
Mature size
12-30" tall · 12" apart
Hardy in zones
4a-9b
very cold to frosty winters
AHS heat range
1-11
Plant range authored in AHS heat-zone terms.
Native in Illinois
Yes
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A documented larval host for the Milkweed tussock moth and 1 other species - specialist wildlife that depend on plants like this to reproduce.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Well-suited
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Well-suited
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✓
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 41 ecoregions - 40 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Atlantic coastal pine barrens
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Blue Mountains forests
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central Tallgrass prairie
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Chilean Matorral
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Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
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Wild geranium
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Lupinus perennis
Wild lupine
The native sundial lupine of eastern North American sand barrens and oak savannas - erect 1-2.5-foot stems carry showy spring spikes of blue, pea-shaped flowers above palmately divided leaves of 7-11 radiating leaflets. A nitrogen-fixing legume of dry, sandy, acidic soils, it is the sole larval host for the federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly and the Frosted Elfin, and carries the Xerces Society "special value to native bees and bumble bees" flag.
Epilobium canum
California fuchsia
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Educator packet
Plant packet
Whorled milkweed educator packet
Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) is the slenderest and most drought-tolerant of the common native milkweeds, a fine-textured perennial of prairies, glades, and dry open ground across most of central and eastern North America. It grows 1 to 2 feet tall on wiry unbranched stems clothed in narrow, needle-like leaves set in whorls, and carries small umbels of greenish-white flowers from midsummer into early fall, later than most milkweeds. Like all Asclepias it is a monarch host plant, and its late nectar feeds bees and butterflies when little else is flowering. It wants full sun and lean, dry soil, and it is tougher and less bulky than common milkweed, though it spreads by rhizome and can form a wandering colony on good ground. All parts are toxic, and whorled milkweed is one of the more poisonous milkweeds to grazing livestock, so keep it out of pastures and hayfields.
Scientific name
Asclepias verticillata
Plant type
perennial
Hardiness
4a-9b
Light
full-sun, part-shade
Moisture
low
Spacing
12 inches
Classroom prompts
- Which plant traits are observations, and which are care recommendations?
- How would this plant fit change if the garden location moved warmer, colder, wetter, or drier?
- Which source-backed facts would you cite in a lesson handout?
Use the Sources & citations section below for page citation styles and the field-level source list.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata). Retrieved 2026, July 14, from https://plotwright.com/plants/asclepias-verticillata
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
University extension service
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database
Botanical research database