Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa): Yellow Variant

While driving south from Pond 2A in the Piedmont National Wildlife Area in Jones County, Georgia, we spotted this. Even at a distance we could tell it was a Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Asclepias tuberosa flowers are usually bright orange so we had to take a closer look.

A little closer…

And closer still. Clearly a Butterfly Milkweed plant.

The leaves were alternate

The flowers from the top

From the side…

And closer still.

Corpuscula that connect the pollinia via translators are visible between the hoods on several florets and missing from others.

This, clearly, is a yellow variant of Asclepias tuberosa. Earlier in the year we saw a plant with yellow-orange flowers over by the Woodpecker Trail but this is the first clearly yellow variant of this species we've seen in Georgia. Yellow flowers have been reported elsewhere.
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Distribution Map:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Asclepias tuberosa

Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Asclepias tuberosa

Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
- Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)