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climbing milkweed

climbing milkweed (Matelea obliqua)
Photo © Christopher David Benda

Features and Behaviors

FEATURES
Climbing milkweed, also known as oblique milkvine, can grow up to 10 feet or more in length. Leaves are arranged opposite each other on the stem. Seedpods grow up to three inches in length. Flowers are positioned in the leaf axils and are maroon in color.

BEHAVIORS
Climbing milkweed flowers May through June. It may be found in Hardin, Massac and Pope counties in Illinois. It grows in rocky woods. The seedpods have scattered projections.

Illinois Range

Taxonomy

​Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae

Illinois Status: common, native