Pineneedle Milkweed
Asclepias linaria Cav.
A shrubby, evergreen-looking milkweed densely clothed in soft needle-like leaves, resembling a small conifer until it produces its white flower clusters. A favorite of desert gardeners in Arizona and New Mexico.
Also called Needle-leaf Milkweed.
- Height
- 1.5 ft–4 ft
- Spread
- 1.5 ft–3 ft
- Flowers
- white, cream
- Bloom
- March to October
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
- USDA zones
- 8–11
- Leaves
- Alternate, threadlike
- Sap
- Milky latex
- Roots
- Deep taproot, resents transplanting
- Stratification
- 30 days cold-moist
- Range
- 3 states
When it flowers
Pineneedle Milkweed blooms March to October, peaking in April and May and September.
How to identify it
- Dense, soft, pine-needle foliage on a woody-based shrubby plant.
- Small white flowers in tight rounded clusters at the branch tips.
- Retains foliage year-round in frost-free areas.
Unfamiliar words are in the glossary, and the identification key will narrow a plant down from what you can see.
The parts that identify it
Ecology and wildlife value
A host for monarchs and queens in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts, and a long-season nectar source.
Monarchs are not the only thing that will find it. Expect large milkweed bugs on ripening pods, oleander aphids on the stems, red milkweed beetles at the flowers and, in late summer, milkweed tussock moths. Everything that lives on milkweed.
Growing pineneedle milkweed
Widely available in Southwest nurseries and easy in a xeric garden. Full sun, sharp drainage, minimal water.
Seed needs about 30 days of cold-moist stratification. Deep taproot, resents transplanting. See how to plant milkweed seed for the full method.
Cautions
Standard milkweed cautions. More on milkweed toxicity.
Where pineneedle milkweed grows
Recorded in 3 states: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas.
County records from USDA PLANTS, public domain. Cross-check against BONAP and your regional flora before making management decisions.
References and further reading
Names, ranges and conservation status here are drawn from the databases below. Where those disagree with a regional flora, trust the flora.
- Plants of the World Online 94400-1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accepted name, authorship and global distribution.
- GBIF 3170270. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Aggregated occurrence records.
- iNaturalist 62295. Community observations, photographs and phenology.
- Wikipedia. General-audience article on this species.
- BONAP county distribution map. Biota of North America Program. County-level range map.
- NatureServe Explorer. Conservation status ranks at global and state level.
- World Flora Online. Nomenclature and synonymy.
- Woodson, R. E. (1954). The North American species of Asclepias L.. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 41(1): 1–211. The monograph the modern taxonomy of the genus still rests on. View
- Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.) (2026). Flora of North America North of Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford. Accepted names, keys and descriptions for the North American flora. View
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Nomenclature and global distribution, keyed to IPNI name identifiers. View
- Kartesz, J. T. (Biota of North America Program) (2026). North American Plant Atlas. BONAP, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. County-level distribution maps, the basis for the ranges generalized here. View
- USDA, NRCS (2026). The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, North Carolina. State-level distribution, wetland status and nomenclature. View
- Agrawal, A. A. (2017). Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution. Princeton University Press. The standard general account of the milkweed and monarch relationship. View
Cite this page
This page is licensed CC BY 4.0. Quote it, adapt it and reuse it, including commercially, as long as you credit Milkweed USA and link back.
Milkweed USA. (2026). Pineneedle Milkweed (Asclepias linaria). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/pineneedle-milkweed/
"Pineneedle Milkweed (Asclepias linaria)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/pineneedle-milkweed/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Pineneedle Milkweed (Asclepias linaria)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/pineneedle-milkweed/.
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title = {Pineneedle Milkweed (Asclepias linaria)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/pineneedle-milkweed/},
note = {Accessed DATE}
}