Asclepiadaceae: "The Milkweed Family"

Leaves usually opposite or whorled, rarely alternate, exstipulate

Stems with milky juice

Flowers ornate, regular, 5-merous, perfect, hypogynous

Corolla rotate or salverform, each lobe with an appendage forming a petaloid corona

Stamens 5, the anthers united to form a cone often attached to the stigma

Pollen united into waxy pollinia

Ovaries 2, united at styles and stigmas

Fruit a follicle (often 2 from each flower), numerous seeds bearing tufts of silky hairs

Provided by Jonathan Wenger, October 1996.