Flower:

Usually a single rounded cluster of 15 to 80 flowers is at the top of the plant, at the end of a naked stem rising up to 12 inches above the top-most leaves. Individual flowers are about 5/8 inch long with 5 pink-tinged green petals pulled back away from the pink to tan-colored 5-parted crown. The tubular hoods in the crown are slightly shorter than the curving horns. Each flower is on a stalk about 1 inch long. Occasionally a second cluster is at the base of the terminal flower stem.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves are 3 to 5 inches long, to 2 inches wide, hairless with a waxy appearance, generally oval with distinctly wavy edges, a whitish to pink midrib, and little or no leaf stalk, typically clasping the stem. The leaf tip is blunt but usually with a tiny sharp point at the apex. 2 to 5 pairs are widely spaced on the smooth green to pinkish stem.

Fruit:

Fruit is an erect spindle-shaped pod about 4 inches long, containing many brown seeds, each with a tuft of white to tan hair to carry it off in the wind.

Notes:

A difficult pursuit over many years, I caught the last blooming specimen at this site with help from staff at the DNR's Natural Heritage Program. According to the DNR, Clasping Milkweed was designated a species of Special Concern in 1984 due to its natural rarity in the state, being found only in a few counties in southeastern Minnesota, and is currently being considered for the Threatened Species list, mostly due to loss of its particular habitat needs—sparsely vegetated savannah where there is little competition from other perennials. All Asclepias were formerly in family Asclepiadaceae but have been reassigned to Apocynaceae (Dogbane).