Common name: Redhead Cottonbush, Blood Flower
Asclepias curassavica L. APNI* 
Description: Perennial herb to 1 m high; young stems finely hairy, older stems glabrous.
Leaves with lamina lanceolate, linear-lanceolate or narrow-elliptic, 6–15 cm long, 0.8–3 cm wide, apex acute, base attenuate, soft, thin, glabrous when mature; petiole 2–20 mm long.
Flowers red with an orange-yellow corona, 8–11 mm diam.; pedicels 10–15 mm long. Calyx hairy. Corolla lobes c. 8 mm long.
Follicles narrow-ovoid, 6–9 cm long, tapered into a narrow beak; seeds with a silky coma.
Flowering: spring–autumn.
Distribution and occurrence: Common in disturbed sites, chiefly north of the Manning R., also in the Sydney district. Native of C Amer.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC
Other Australian states: *Qld *W.A. *S.A.
Text by G. J. Harden & J. B. Williams
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 3 (1992)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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