About Asclepias involucrata Engelm. ex Torr.
Asclepias involucrata Engelm. ex Torr. is a perennial plant that grows 2 to 10 inches (5.1 to 25.4 cm) long, with prostrate stems that lie along the ground. Both its leaves and stems are densely covered in hair. It flowers from April through June; its flowers grow in clusters at the tips of stems, with five greenish-white, downward-curved petals and five greenish-white pouch-shaped sacs. Its seedpods have a spindle-like shape. This species is native to Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah in the United States, as well as Northeast and Northwest Mexico. It occurs in mixed desert shrub and pinyon-juniper woodland communities. The Zuni people mix the dried powdered root of this plant with saliva to treat an unspecified illness, and they also note that jackrabbits favor this plant.
