What is Meads milkweed?
Appearance – Mead’s milkweed has a single slender unbranched stalk, 8 to 16 inches high, without hairs but with a whitish waxy covering. The hairless leaves are opposite, broadly ovate, 2 to 3 inches long, 3/8 to 2 inches wide, also with a whitish waxy covering. A solitary umbel (an umbrella-like cluster of flowers) at the top of the stalk has 6 to 15 greenish, cream-colored flowers. Habitat Requirements – This milkweed requires moderately wet (mesic) to moderately dry (dry mesic) upland tallgrass prairie or glade/barren habitat characterized by vegetation adapted for drought and fire. It persists in stable late-successional prairie. Life History – Mead’s milkweed is a long-lived perennial herb. Studies suggest that it may take 15 years or more to mature from a germinating seed to a flowering plant. After maturing, it can persist indefinitely. Reproduction – Mead’s milkweed flowers as early as late May in the south through mid to late June in the north. It is pollinated by small bumble
