Asclepias speciosa
 
Showy Milkweed

Upper Part of Plant

One Mile West of Melita
17-July-2015

Note the opposite leaves.  Note also the peduncle base is rotated +/- 90 degrees from each of the two leaf axils.

Speciosa: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species. 

plants hairy or downy; NOT [plants almost hairless]

leaves opposite; NOT [leaves in whorls]

leaves oblong or oval; NOT [leaves ovate or lanceolate], NOT [leaves linear]

leaves rounded or almost cordate at base; NOT [leaves tapered at base]

flowers purplish or greenish; NOT [flowers rose or red]

hoods of corona long, three times longer than stamens; NOT [hoods of corona short, not much longer than stamens]

hoods of corona lanceolate; NOT [hoods of corona blunt]

corona hoods each with an incurved horn within; NOT [corona hoods without an incurved horn within]

pods with soft tubercles; NOT [pods lacking tubercles]

 

Asclepiadaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family. 

herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

plants green or with some chlorophyll; NOT [plants parasitic or saprophytic, without chlorophyll]

plants with milky juice

flowers not in heads or spikes; NOT [flowers in long or short spikes], NOT [flowers in heads or in form resembling a head]

flowers with two floral rings, but with the petals wholly or partly united forming a tube or bell

corolla regular; NOT [corolla irregular]

stamens united; NOT [stamens distinct]

pollens grains united into a mass; NOT [pollen grains separate]

styles distinct; NOT [styles united]

ovary superior; NOT [ovary inferior]