Warwoman Wildlife Management Area: Milkweed (Asclepias sp.) Seedpods

October 19th, 2012. In the Warwoman Wildlife Management Area, along Sarah’s Creek Road from where we found the Showy Gentian (Gentiana decora) and the Flaxleaf Whitetop Aster (Ionactis linariifolius), we found several asclepias plants with seed pods releasing seeds, or about to. It was getting dark so I photographed these using artificial light.

This plant has three seed pods. Two were still green and the third was releasing seed.

A closer view.

On the other side of the road was a plant whose two seed pods had ripened an split. The seed pod in the foreground was releasing seeds. The seeds in the rear seed pod had matted. Although a few seeds are showing signs of separating but many may remain matted.

A closer view of the seed pod in the foreground. The hairy plumes on the seeds are opening out. These are very bouyant and a breeze may carry them considerable distances.

We’ll be returning next Spring to photograph the flowers and identify the species.

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Related posts:

- Flaxleaf Whitetop Aster or Stiff Aster (Ionactis linariifolius)

- Warwoman Wildlife Management Area: Showy or Appalachian Gentian (Gentiana decora)

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) Seed Release

August 25^th, 2012. It’s not often that we seed a release of seeds from milkweeds that is not affected by breezes. Usually the wind will blow the seeds away as they are released. On this occasion, however, we spotted seeds being released from the pod of a Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) in a calm atmosphere.

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed, Common Butterflyweed, Pleurisy Root, Wind Root) is native to the United States, where it’s found in states southeast of a line from Maine to Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah to New Mexico and California. In Georgia, it’s found in many counties throughout the state.

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Identification resources:

- Southeastern Flora: Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed)

 - Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Asclepias tuberosa (Common Butterflyweed, Pleurisy Root,Wind Root, Butterfly Milkweed)

Distribution Map:

- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed)

- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Asclepias tuberosa

First Angularfruit Milkvine (Matelea gonocarpos) Flowers Of The Season

May 5th, 2012. After we’d completed our run from Saxon to Broad yesterday, we headed down to Clark Hill Wildlife Management Area in McDuffie County to look for wildflowers in general and for milkvines (Matelea sp.). We didn’t see many on our run to the end of the road, but spotted a number on the way back out. The leaves on one of the vines we saw had slightly ‘frilled’ margin (which I forgot to photograph) so I walked over to take a closer look. The vines were matelea vines and as I looked more closely I spotted…

a cluster of buds. The buds of the Angularfruit Milkvine are glossy and concave in profile compared with those of the…

Buds. Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis)

Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis). It’s easy to identify Angularfruit Milkvine plants in this area when buds begin to develop.

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Clusters of flowers. We have always found green flowers with purple centers. In some areas, flowers are green with no purple color.

A closer view of one of the flowers. These flowers have a matte surface. Newly opened flowers we have found in Greene County…

have a glossy surface.

Matelea gonocarpos seed pod. If a flower is pollinated, a seed pod will develop in 4 to 5 months.

The seed pod gradually develops a wrinkled surface as the seeds ripen

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A ripe seed pod has split open to release seeds.

The seeds - enlarged many times here – are about ¼-inch in diameter.

An empty seed pod we spotted in the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in April. The ribs of the angularfruit pod are clearly visible. It’s easy to distinguish these pods from the spiny pods of milkvines like the Maroon Carolina Milkweed (Matelea carolinensis).

Matelea gonocarpos is known as the Angularfruit Milkvine or Eastern Anglepod. It is native to the United States where it may be found from Maryland to Illinois, west to Kansas and south to Texas. In Georgia, it has been documented in several counties not including Greene or Jones counties where we have found it; it occurs in several sites in the Piedmont NWR.

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) lists Matelea gonocarpos and Matelea gonocarpa as accepted names but lists Matelea gonocarpos with the common name Angularfruit Milkvine. Both names appear in different plant lists.
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Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Matelea gonocarpa (Angularfruit milkvine)
- Name that Plant. Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Matalea gonocarpos (Eastern Anglepod)
- Missouri plants: Matelea gonocarpa

Distribution:
- USDA Plants Database: Matelea gonocarpos (Angularfruit Milkvine)

Related Posts:
- Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis)
- Zen: Angularfruit milkvine (Matelea gonocarpa)

Oldfield Milkvine (Matelea decipiens)

May 5th, 2012. We made another run from Saxon to Broad yesterday. We were on the lookout for milkvines (Matalea sp.). We saw a lot of vines but only one with maroon flowers and another, an Angularfruit Milkvine (Matalea gonocarpos) setting buds.

It was the former plant that really caught out attention. Unfortunately, this plant had almost finished blooming; there were only a couple of unopened buds on each cluster. Although the flowers were not at their best, they are worth documenting. Since most of the flowers were in the shade we had to use artificial light or flash to photograph them.

A cluster of blooms photographed with flash. The petals appear brown under this light; in reality they are deep maroon. The petals of these flowers were longer than those of the…

Maroon Carolina Milkweed (Matelea carolinensis): Jones County, Georgia

Maroon Carolina MIlkvine (Matelea carolinensis) that we photographed in the Piedmont NWR in Jones County, Georgia a few weeks ago.

A closer view of one of the flowers. The flowers were ‘cup-shaped’ - the petals curved upwards rather than laterally from the center as do the Maroon Carolina Milkvine flowers above.

Another cluster of flowers photographed with artificial light.

A closer view of one of these flowers. In addition to having long petals, the petals show some twisting.

A cluster of three flowers showing both the long petals and some twisting.

A view from the side showing the ‘cupping’ of the petals and a bud.

A close-up view of an individual flower.

These photographs were taken of plants by the roadside. W walked back into the woods and found more plants that had finished blooming. We plan to return next year during the optimal blooming period to photograph these plants again.

We have identified this vine as Matalea decipiens which is known as the Oldfield Milkvine, Deceptive Spinypod, Climbing Milkweed, Angle-pod, or Climbing Red Milkweed. It is native to the United States where it may be found from Maryland to Illinois and Kansas and south to Texas. It hasn’t been documented in Mississippi, Alabama or Florida. In Georgia, it has only been officially documented in Banks and Clarke counties. Clearly, Alan Cressler has documented it in Catoosa County, Georgia. As with Matalea flavidula, this species is distributed more widely than officially documented.
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Identification resources:
Name that Plant. Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:
- Matelea decipiens (Deceptive Spinypod)
- Matelea carolinensis (Carolina Spinypod, Climbing Milkweed)
- Comparison. M. gonocarpos, M. decipiens, M. carolinensis, M. flavidula
Missouri plants: Matelea decipiens
Alan Cressler: Matelea decipiens
J. Pippen, Duke University: Matelea decipiens (Oldfield Milkvine, Deceptive Spinypod)

Distribution:
- USDA Plants Database: Matelea decipiens (Oldfield Milkvine)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Matelea decipiens

Related Post:
- Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis)

Matelea carolinensis: Nonpigmented Flowers

April 20th – April 27th, 2012. We found Matelea carolinensis (Maroon Carolina Milkvine) and Matelea flavidula (Yellow Carolina Milkvine) in both Hancock and Jones counties within a day of each other.

At each location, it was uncanny that the petals of M. flavidula resembled those of M. carolinensis in shape and size. In addition, we found vines of M. flavidula, climbing the same stems intertwined with vines of M. carolinensis in both locations. At one point, I actually became a little paranoid – like you do when you have a find that’s too good to be true - that the M. flavidula flowers might just be a nonpigmented variant of M. carolinensis. Particularly since the ‘Name that Plant’ website shows a photograph of a non-pigmented variant. I actually unwound a couple of vines a short way to verify that the maroon and green flowers weren’t on the same vine; they weren’t.

Among the matelea vines at the first Hancock County site, we stumbled across a single vine with green flowers that were quite different from those of the M. flavidula plants we’d found.

The vine, with a cluster of flowers

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Closer views of the flower clusters

A close view of the cluster of flowers. Even at this distance it’s clear that the petals have tinges of purple on the upper side and look distinctly more opaque than those of M. flavidula. In addition the corona (center) of the flower is clearly deep purple like that of M. carolinensis and not yellow like M. flavidula.

The under side of the petals. The purple color is quite clear.

A close up of an individual flower. There is some suggestion of a reticular pattern on the petals but the petals of these flowers are quite distinct from those of M. flavidula.

Based on all of these observations, we have now found pigmented and non-pigmented M. carolinensis plants as well as plants of M. flavidula plants. The only thing we haven’t seen yet is a hybrid M. carolinensis x M. flavidula flower. We’ll be on the lookout for one of these.
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Identification resources:
Alan Cressler: Matelea flavidula
- Houston county: Short petal and long petal
- Cook County
Alan Cressler: Hybrid: M. carolinensis x M. flavidula
- Houston County
Name that Plant. Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:
- Matelea carolinensis (Carolina Spinypod, Climbing Milkweed)
- Matelea carolinensis (Carolina Spinypod, Climbing Milkweed) - nonpigmented flowers
- Matelea flavidula (Yellow Spinypod)

Distribution:
USDA Plants Database:
- Matelea carolinensis (Maroon Carolina Milkvine)
- Matelea flavidula (Yellow Carolina Milkvine)
University of North Carolina Herbarium:
- Matelea flavidula

Related Posts:
- Matelea flavidula: Fact, Not Fiction
- Jones County, Georgia: Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula)
- Hancock County, Georgia: Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula)
- Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis)

Matelea flavidula: Fact, Not Fiction

April 20th – April 27th, 2012. We found Matelea carolinensis (Maroon Carolina Milkvine) and Matelea flavidula (Yellow Carolina Milkvine) in both Hancock and Jones counties within a day of each other.

In each location, it was uncanny that the petals of M. flavidula resembled those of M. carolinensis in shape and size. The petals of both species were shorter at the…

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Hancock County site than at the…

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Jones County site.

In addition, we found vines of M. flavidula, climbing the same stems intertwined with vines of M. carolinensis in both…

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Hancock County, and in…

Jones County (Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge).

At one point, I even became a little paranoid – like you do when you have a find that’s too good to be true - that the M. flavidula flowers might just be a nonpigmented variant of M. carolinensis. Particularly since the ‘Name that Plant’ website shows a photograph of a non-pigmented variant. I actually unwound a couple of vines a short way to verify that the maroon and green flowers weren’t on the same vine; they weren’t.
We found M. carolinensis alone at several locations but never M. flavidula alone. I was going to be a lot more relaxed about these finds if I could find M. flavidula not associated with M. carolinensis – even though this wouldn’t be absolute proof that the green flowers weren’t a non-pigmented M. carolinensis.
We did find a M. flavidula vine alone, a little way along the road from the first vines.

A cluster of flowers along the vine.

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A closer view of the cluster. The flower clusters were denser than other clusters we’d seen.

Individual flowers had the same reticulate pattern as the other flowers.

This vine could have originated from the patch along the road, or vice versa, since the seeds are very buoyant and could travel considerable distances from the seed pod.

After we left this site, we traveled more than a mile almost due west along another rural road that wound its way through fields and pine woods. We past several patches of matelea vines that were not blooming - very probably Matalea gonocarpos. Shortly after we turned north, we spotted…

a single plant on a roadside bank under a canopy of trees that was blooming. The blooms were green. We couldn’t reach the plant without a lot of effort so contented ourselves with a...

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photo, taken with a zoom lens, that was sufficient to confirm that this was M. flavidula. And not a M. carolinsis plant in sight.

My paranoia has been dispelled, especially since we have now found a non-pigmented M. carolinensis plant and its petals are distinctly different from those of the M. flavidula plants we’ve found. But more of that next…
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Identification resources:
Alan Cressler: Matelea flavidula
- Houston county: Short petal and long petal
- Cook County
Name that Plant. Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Matelea flavidula (Yellow Spinypod)

Distribution:
- USDA Plants Database: Matelea flavidula (Yellow Carolina Milkvine)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Matelea flavidula

Related Posts:
- Jones County, Georgia: Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula)
- Hancock County, Georgia: Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula)
- Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis)

Jones County, Georgia: Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula)

April 21th, 2012. We returned to the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on a routine visit using our previous route. Since we had found both the Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis) and the Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula) growing and blooming by the roadside in Hancock County, Georgia, we were looking for these milkvines in the Piedmont NWR. We found the Maroon Carolina Milkvine in several locations on Starr Road in the Oconee Wildlife Management Area (WMA) north of the WMA. We had about given up when we noticed a group of vines growing by the pine forest. Even from the road, I thought I could see a cluster of light-colored flowers.

There were, indeed, several vines of the Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula) growing with vines of the Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis). It was reasonable dark when we photographed these, so I was using artificial light (not flash). These photographs have been sharpened slightly to compensate for the low light. Flowers on some vines had slightly more maroon coloring than others.

A cluster of blooms. These blooms had tinges of maroon in the centers.

A closer view of a cluster of blooms.

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Close ups of an individual bloom

A cluster of blooms with very little maroon color from another vine.

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A closer view of blooms.

A close up of the back side of these blooms.

Matelea flavidula is known by the common names Yellow Carolina Milkvine, Yellow Spinypod. This species is native to the United States where it grows from Virginia to Mississippi. This species is considered to be rare in Georgia where it has only been officially documented in Effingham and Baker counties (USDA Plants Database) and Pulaski, Appling, Wayne, Baker and Decatur counties (University of North Carolina Herbarium). Alan Cressler has found the species in Houston (here and here) and Cook counties.

These finds of Matelea flavidula in Hancock and Jones counties suggest that this species is more widely distributed in Georgia than previously documented. It will be interesting to see if we find this species in other counties in this area of Georgia.
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Identification resources:
Name that Plant. Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Matelea flavidula (Yellow Spinypod)
Allan Cressler: Matelea flavidula
- Houston county: Short petal and long petal
- Cook County

Distribution:
- USDA Plants Database: Matelea flavidula (Yellow Carolina Milkvine)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Matelea flavidula

Related Posts:
- Hancock County, Georgia: Yellow Carolina Milkvine (Matelea flavidula)
- Maroon Carolina Milkvine (Matelea carolinensis)