# Cutler's Milkweed (Asclepias cutleri)

> A sand dune specialist of the Four Corners, and one of the smallest milkweeds in North America at barely a hand's width tall. Purple flowers with off-white hoods on thread-fine leaves, growing in loose sand that moves underfoot.

Source: https://milkweedusa.com/species/cutlers-milkweed/  
License: CC BY 4.0 (Milkweed USA)

## Summary

A sand dune specialist of the Four Corners, and one of the smallest milkweeds in North America at barely a hand's width tall. Purple flowers with off-white hoods on thread-fine leaves, growing in loose sand that moves underfoot.

## Key facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Asclepias cutleri Woodson |
| Genus | Asclepias |
| Family | Apocynaceae |
| Common names | Cutler's Milkweed |
| Status | Native; rare or legally protected in part of its range |
| Height | 4 in–8 in |
| Spread | 6 in–1 ft |
| Flower color | purple, pink, white |
| Bloom period | April to June |
| Light | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry |
| USDA zones | 5-8 |
| Leaf arrangement | alternate |
| Leaf shape | threadlike |
| Sap | Milky latex |
| Root system | Deep taproot, resents transplanting |
| Seed stratification | 30 days cold-moist |
| Monarch value (0-5) | 2 |
| Garden value (0-5) | 1 |
| Nectar value (0-5) | 2 |
| US states recorded | Arizona, Utah |

## Identification

- Very small: a perennial herb only 10 to 20 cm high, with ascending stems sparingly branched near the base.
- Thread-fine leaves, narrowly linear, 1 to 8 cm long and just 1 to 3 mm wide, set irregularly alternate along the stem.
- Purple to pinkish petals with off-white hoods, flowering early, from April to June.
- Weakly stabilized sand and gravelly ground between about 4,300 and 5,200 feet. Nothing else this small grows in that habitat.

## Ecology

A narrow endemic of the Colorado Plateau, much of its range on Navajo Nation land. Its value to monarchs is modest simply because there is so little of it, but shifting sand habitat is scarce and losing it loses the species.

## Growing

Not cultivated and not available. It is here to be identified and reported, not grown. Sand dune endemics are easily destroyed by vehicle traffic, and a population can be lost in an afternoon.

## Cautions

Standard milkweed cautions. Do not collect: this species exists in a handful of places and nowhere else.

## Questions

**How small is Cutler's milkweed?**

Ten to twenty centimetres, so about the length of your hand. Its leaves are thread-fine, between one and three millimetres wide. It is easy to walk past and easy to mistake for a grass until it flowers.

**Where does Cutler's milkweed grow?**

The Four Corners, on sand. USDA records it for northern Arizona and southeastern Utah; some treatments also report it from Colorado. It is a dune and sandy-ground specialist and it occurs nowhere outside the Colorado Plateau.

## References

- Plants of the World Online: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:21177-2
- GBIF: https://www.gbif.org/species/3170324
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/158736
- BONAP county map: https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Asclepias%20cutleri.png
- NatureServe: https://explorer.natureserve.org/Search?searchTerm=Asclepias%20cutleri

## How to cite

Milkweed USA. (2026). Cutler's Milkweed (Asclepias cutleri). https://milkweedusa.com/species/cutlers-milkweed/