Flower:

5-petaled, pale greenish-white to cream with some purplish out towards tips of the petals. Flowers are ¼ to 1/3 inch long, in a single cluster 1½ to 2½ inches wide at the end of the main stem. Petals are variable from angled outwards and downward (typical) to tightly appressed against the flower stem (atypical, as seen in the leaves photo below). The 5 hoods surrounding the center crown do not extend above the flower center. Unlike most milkweeds, this one has no horns.

Leaves and stem:

Leaf shape is variable from narrow and long, with a semi-pointed tip (typical) to broadly long and rounded tip (atypical, see more photos below). From this variation it can range from 1/3 to 1¼ inches wide and 1 to 4 inches long. Leaves have fine woolly hairs on both upper and lower surfaces, are toothless, and irregularly spaced on the stem.

Stems are weakly erect to ascending, unbranched, with 2-3 stems per plant, and densely covered in spreading hairs.

Fruit:

Fruit is a fuzzy, spindle-shaped pod containing numerous flat brown seeds, each with a tuft of white hair to carry it off in the wind.

Notes:

This milkweed is not common in Minnesota. While not officially considered “rare” here, it is elsewhere in its North American range, listed as Threatened or Endangered in much of it. This can be a difficult plant to locate even when you know it is there, due to its short stature, plus the fact that not all plants produce flowers and fruit production seems to be poor for those that do. When I first encountered it I was unprepared for how small it is.