Plant: perennial herb; stems erect, unbranched, 30-100 cm tall, short woolly, especially above

Leaves: opposite, the petioles 3-15 mm long, the blades elliptic-oblong to mostly broadly elliptic or ovate, 4-15 cm long, 2-10 cm broad, obtuse to rounded, truncate or shallowly cordate at the base, broadly acute to rounded at the apex, apiculate, green and glabrous to sparsely hairy above, persistently short woolly beneath, the surface conspicuously whitened from the dense mat of curly hairs

INFLORESCENCE: UMBELS terminal to subterminal or lateral at the uppermost nodes, 5-8 cm broad, the peduncles 2-15 cm long

Flowers: large; calyx lobes 3.5-5 mm long; corolla greenish outside, purplish inside, the lobes 8-11 mm long; hoods purple, erect-ascending, oblong-attenuate, obtuse-rounded at the apex, 6-10 mm long, 4-8 mm longer than the gynostegium, the margins with a pair of sharp teeth ca. 2 mm long arching over the stigma head, the horns absent; anther wings 2-2.4 mm long; corpusculum ca. 0.5 mm long, the pollinia 0.9-1.1 mm long

Fruit: FOLLICLES erect on deflexed pedicels, 8-12 cm long

Misc: Oak and pine woodlands to the ponderosa zone, mts; 1850-2550 m (6000-8300 ft); Jun-Sep

REFERENCES: Sundell, Eric. 1994. Asclepiadaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 169-187.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Erect unbranched stems 20-100 cm tall, tomentose, especially above.

Leaves: Opposite, oval to ovate or oblong-elliptic, whitish tomentose below, on petioles 3-15 cm long, the blades 4-15 cm long, 2-10 cm wide, obtuse to rounded at base, broadly acute to rounded at apex.

Flowers: Lateral and terminal solitary, clustered at upper nodes, sometimes compound, 4-6 cm across on peduncles 1-6 cm, the flowers large with 3.5-5 cm long calyx lobes, the corolla greenish outside, purplish inside, the lobes 8-11 mm long, the hoods without horns within, flattened toward apex, margins with pair of sharp teeth about 2 mm long.

Fruits: Follicles erect on deflexed pedicels, 8-12 cm long.

Ecology: Found in oak and pine woodlands up into open pine forests from 6,000-9,000 ft (1829-2743 m), flowers June-September.

Distribution: Ranges across southern Arizona into southern New Mexico and south into northern Chihuahua and northeastern Sonora.

Notes: The densely tomentose herbage and underside of the leaves can be distinctive, along with the nodding umbel, ending in reddish corolla.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Asclepias is named for the Greek god of healing Asklepios, while hypoleuca means whitish beneath.

Synonyms: Gomphocarpus hypoleucus

Editor: SBuckley 2011, 2014, AHazelton 2015