Common/Purple Milkweeds

Here are 2 similar-looking milkweeds, a Purple Milkweed and a couple Common Milkweeds. Though the veins on the leaves of the Purple Milkweed are considered a little more perpendicular to the central vein compared to the Common Milkweed, but mostly I tell the difference based on the much brighter purple flowers of the Purple Milkweed [1]. Color-wise the Swamp Milkweed could be confused with the Purple Milkweed, but the Swamp Milkweed leaves are so much narrower that you shouldn't worry about confusing them.

AFAIK these 2 related, similar-looking milkweeds don't hybridize in the wild, though us humans have coaxed some hybridization between species. It sounds like the motivation behind this is the hope that some milkweed cultivars might convince gardeners to plant them and benefiting the environment. A successful hybrid would:

  • Produce the same quality/abundance of nectar as native milkweeds.
  • Would not be able to hybridize in the wild with our native milkweeds.

As native plants deeply entrenched into their local ecosystems, they and the other milkweeds are important to a lot of insects.

Purple Milkweed
June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300990513, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Common Milkweed
June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300990877, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] This probably works well enough when the flowers are in bloom but older, withering flowers may be harder to distinguish.


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