About Asclepias subulata Decne.
Asclepias subulata Decne. is a milkweed species commonly known by the common names rush milkweed, desert milkweed, and ajamete. It is an erect perennial herb that loses its leaves early in the growing season, growing as a cluster of bare stalks. Inflorescences holding distinctive flowers grow at the tops of the stems. Each cream-white flower has a reflexed corolla that exposes five shiny inner columns arranged in a network, each of which is topped with a tiny hook. Its fruit is a pouch-shaped follicle that holds many flat, oval seeds equipped with long, silky hair-like plumes. This milkweed is native to the desert southwest of the United States and northern Mexico, where it grows on dry slopes, mesas, plains, and in desert washes. In 1935, researchers based in Bard, California, tested this plant to assess its potential as a source of natural rubber. Asclepias subulata acts as a larval host plant for the monarch butterfly and the queen butterfly.
