Rush Milkweed, Skeleton Milkweed
Asclepias subulata
[画像:Rush milkweed, Skeleton Milkweed]
Color: Yellowish to greenish white
Common name: Rush milkweed, Skeleton Milkweed
Latin name: Asclepias subulata
Family: ASCLEPIADACEAE
Height: 2-5 ft. tall
Description: Many to several hundred grey-green rush-like stems grow from a perennial root. 6.5 to 13 mm cream-coloured flowers produced in umbels at or near the terminal end of the stems.
Leaf: Opposite, blade narrowly linear, ephemeral — meaning the leaves are rarely seen.
Range: Desert mountains, Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert.
Habitat: Creosote Bush Scrub, desert, arroyos, washes. Often seen along the edge of washes in the low, hot portion of the Colorado and Eastern Mojave deserts.
Elevation: < 700 m.
Flowering time: Apr–Dec
Notes: Photographed Oct. 14, 2007 on a desert road near Oatman, Ariz. A perennial herb that is native to California and is also found outside of California to Nevada, Arizona, n Mexico, but is confined to western North America. The sap has been analyzed and found to contain rubber. In Mexico, the toxic milky juice is used as an emetic and purgative. This milkweed is particularly noticable as it sways in the breeze on slender stems.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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(追記) (追記ここまで)
The Desert Environment
The North American Deserts
Desert Geological Terms