MilkweedUSA

Native Subspecies of Pallid Milkweed

Pallid Milkweed

Asclepias cryptoceras subsp. cryptoceras S. Watson

The Colorado Plateau plant, of juniper and pinyon-juniper country from Wyoming down into Arizona, with larger flowers than its western sibling.

Also called Jewel Milkweed, Cow Cabbage.

How to tell it apart

Larger in every flower part: corolla lobes 11 to 14 mm, crown segments 6 to 8 mm, and the crown tips stand above the central column. Flower clusters hold 4 to 10 flowers on long stalks.

Compare with subsp. davisii. Everything else about the plant, including how to grow it and what it is worth to monarchs, is on the pallid milkweed page.

Where it grows

Fishbein notes that this plant looks remarkably like three unrelated species it grows alongside, including a milkvetch and a four-o’clock, and wonders aloud whether they form a mimicry complex. It is rare in Arizona and Nevada.

Alaska: not recorded Maine: not recorded Vermont: not recorded New Hampshire: not recorded Washington: not recorded Idaho: not recorded Montana: not recorded North Dakota: not recorded Minnesota: not recorded Illinois: not recorded Wisconsin: not recorded Michigan: not recorded New York: not recorded Massachusetts: not recorded Rhode Island: not recorded Oregon: not recorded Nevada: recorded Wyoming: recorded South Dakota: not recorded Iowa: not recorded Indiana: not recorded Ohio: not recorded Pennsylvania: not recorded New Jersey: not recorded Connecticut: not recorded California: not recorded Utah: recorded Colorado: recorded Nebraska: not recorded Missouri: not recorded Kentucky: not recorded West Virginia: not recorded Virginia: not recorded Maryland: not recorded Delaware: not recorded Arizona: recorded New Mexico: not recorded Kansas: not recorded Arkansas: not recorded Tennessee: not recorded North Carolina: not recorded South Carolina: not recorded District of Columbia: not recorded Texas: not recorded Oklahoma: not recorded Louisiana: not recorded Mississippi: not recorded Alabama: not recorded Georgia: not recorded Hawaii: not recorded Florida: not recorded
Recorded in 5 states. Shading is generalized to whole states.

Distribution follows the Flora of North America treatment, United States only. Pallid Milkweed as a whole is recorded in 10 states.

Flowering

Pallid Milkweed blooms April to July, peaking in May. Plants reach 4 in–1 ft.

References

The description, distribution and synonymy here follow Mark Fishbein’s treatment of Asclepias in Flora of North America vol. 14 (2023).

Cite this page

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APA Milkweed USA. (2026). Pallid Milkweed (Asclepias cryptoceras subsp. cryptoceras). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/pallid-milkweed/cryptoceras/
MLA "Pallid Milkweed (Asclepias cryptoceras subsp. cryptoceras)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/pallid-milkweed/cryptoceras/. Accessed DATE.
Chicago Milkweed USA. "Pallid Milkweed (Asclepias cryptoceras subsp. cryptoceras)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/pallid-milkweed/cryptoceras/.
BibTeX @misc{milkweedusa_speciespallidmilkweedcryptoc, title = {Pallid Milkweed (Asclepias cryptoceras subsp. cryptoceras)}, author = {{Milkweed USA}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/pallid-milkweed/cryptoceras/}, note = {Accessed DATE} }