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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Spider Milkweed

Asclepias asperula
native · Hill Countrytoxic

Spider Milkweed is a perennial wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–2 ft tall and 2 ft wide. It wants full sun and medium water, and handles caliche soil. Blooms white and green in Mar–Oct. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.

Toxic — livestock. Cardiac glycosides — antelope horns is a known livestock poisoner.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

4 sources
Type
Perennial wildflower
Sun
Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Medium
Height
1–2 ft
Spread
2 ft
Bloom
Mar–Oct · white, green
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche · recorded on caliche, dry, loam, moist, sand, well drained
Deer
High — deer rarely browse it
Wildlife
Supports butterflies

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut Plain

9,803 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.