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Hartweg's climbing milkweed
Funastrum heterophyllum
Funastrum cynanchoides (formerly called Sarcostemma cynanchoides), also known as fringed twinevine, twining milkweed or climbing milkweed, is a perennial plant in the family Apocynaceae that grows twining through other plants in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert. It has milky sap and smells pungent. It is similar to Funastrum hirtellum.
From the article Funastrum cynanchoides on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
It is a twining vine-like plant that grows over other shrubs. Its narrow, arrowhead shaped leaves are opposite and 2.5 to 3.8 centimeters (1 to 1+1⁄2 inches) long. The flowers are pink to purplish, and are produced in umbrella-like heads (umbels) up to 10 cm (4 in) wide. It has a fruit that is 7.5 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) long, with tufted seeds about 3.5 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long.
Range & habitat
It can be found from Southern California to Utah, Oklahoma and Texas. It grows at the edge of desert dry washes in the eastern Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert at altitudes below 610 meters (2,000 feet). In urban areas the vine freely climbs on plants, trees, as well as having a preference for chain-link fencing in neglected areas.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
What it does
The flowers are actively visited and fed on by butterflies, similar to other milkweeds.
Wikipedia: “Ecology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Funastrum heterophyllum in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 775602.