Giant Milkweed

Description:

An upright (i.e. erect) shrub or small tree usually growing 1-4 m tall with waxy stems and leaves that contain a milky sap. Its relatively large greyish-green leaves (5-20 cm long and 4-10 cm wide) are borne in pairs and are stem-clasping. Its flowers (20-30 mm across) have five petals that are white with purplish-coloured tips and a purplish crown -like centre. Its fruit is a large (8-12 cm long) bladdery 'pod' that is greyish-green in colour. This fruit splits open at maturity to release numerous seeds, each topped with a tuft of long, white, silky hairs.

Habitat:

Dry hillside on Virgin Gorda, BVI.

Notes:

Giant milkweed is native to West Africa as far south as Angola, North and East Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, southern Asia, and Indochina to Malaysia (Rahman and Wilcock 1991). The species is now naturalized in Australia, many Pacific islands, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean islands.