General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower and butterfly gardens.
Ecological Restoration Notes: An occasional but widespread understory herb in open freshwater wetlands and pinelands.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries.
Description: Erect medium wildflower, with narrow leaves; barely noticeable when not in flower.
Dimensions: Typically 2-3 feet in height. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Southeastern United States north to New Jersey, west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Wet pinelands and marl prairies.
Soils: Wet to moist, seasonally inundated calcareous or sandy soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Red and orange.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Summer.
Fruit: Slender pod (follicle) with wind dispersed seeds.
Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for monarch (
Danaus plexippus) and queen (
Danaus gilippus) butterflies; possible larval host of soldier (
Danaus eresimus) butterflies. Nectar plant for monarch (
Danaus plexippus) and other butterflies. Also attracts bees and other insect pollinators.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: An excellent butterfly plant for wet spots in the garden. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page and
Monarchs & Milkweed flyer. See also a 2022 post on the
Treasure Coast Natives blog about
Asclepias lanceolata's relationship with the Queen butterfly.
