Accession Data:
Asclepias curassavica L.
- Common Name: Blood-flower
- Family: Apocynaceae Juss.
- Country of Origin: Trop. America
- Description: Showy perennial to 1 m with woody base, stems with milky sap; oblanceolate leaves 5-15 cm long, the flowers in umbels with reflexed, 5 parted corolla brilliant red-purple, exposing the crown of 5 orange horned hoods.
- Uses: Brazil as a poison,
Costa Rica for warts,
Dominican Republic as an emetic and vulnerary; for fevers,
Elsewhere for dysentery, gonorrhea, headaches, intestinal worms, leprosy, piles, parasites, tumors(abdomen); as an diaphoretic, emetic, hemostat, laxative in effect">purgative, styptic, sudorific, and vermifuge
Haiti as a depurative, emetic, pectoral, poison(veterinary); for fever,
Mexico for Cancer, as an emetic, poison, purgative, and vermifuge; for rabies, sores, tuberculosis,
Samoa as an emetic, poison,
Trinidad for sores, venereal diseases,
Turkey as an astringent, emetic, hemostat, purgative, vermifuge,
Venezuela for caries, leprosy, leucorrhea; as an astringent, purgative
- IMPORTANT NOTE: Plant Uses are for informational purposes only. EEB Greenhouses assume no responsibility for adverse effects from the use of any plants referred to on this site. Always seek advice from a professional before using any plant medicinally.
- USDA Zone: 9-11
Accession Data:
- Accession # 198500664
- Source: Unknown
- Recorded Vouchers:
- Voucher #129354 at George Safford Torrey Herbarium (CONN).
- Accession Date: 12-31-1985
- Bench: 1301 - NEOA: East Bench NN
- Currently: active - healthy
- Qty: 1 confirmed on 03-24-2025
Classification:
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- SubClass: euasterid I
- Order: Gentianales
- SubOrder:
- Family: Apocynaceae
- SubFamily: Asclepiadoideae
- Tribe: Asclepiadeae
- SubTribe: Asclepiadinae
Flowering Data:
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References (internal):
- Medicinal Plants
- Butterfly pollination (psychophily)
- Pollination Syndrome Scavenger Hunt
- EEB 3271 - Systematic Botany
- Plants with Vouchers deposited in CONN
- Undefined Medicinal Plants
- EEB Greenhouse Holdings native to: Mexico Central / Mexico Northeast / Mexico Gulf / Mexico Northwest / Mexico Southwest / Mexico Southeast / Belize / Costa Rica / El Salvador / Guatemala / Honduras / Nicaragua / Panama / Bahamas / Cayman Is. / Cuba / Dominican Republic / Haiti / Jamaica / Leeward Is. / Netherlands Antilles / Puerto Rico / Southwest Caribbean / Turks-Caicos Is. / Trinidad-Tobago / Venezuelan Antilles / Windward Is. / French Guiana / Guyana / Suriname / Venezuela / Bolivia / Colombia / Ecuador / Galapagos / Peru / Brazil West-Central / Brazil Northeast / Brazil Southeast / Brazil North / Brazil South /
References (external):
- Exotica by AB Graf
- The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Accessed 29 September 2015.
- Asclepias curassavica at Invasive Species Compendium. Last accessed on Monday, June 13, 2016.
- WCSP (2016). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Tuesday, September 12, 2017.
data regenerated on Wed, 23 Apr 2025 14:27:13 -0400 [bcm v4.0]
Images:
Additional images for this accession:
Click on thumbnails to enlarge
Current Accessions in the Apocynaceae
Subfamily Apocynoideae
Tribe Apocyneae
Subfamily Apocynoideae
Tribe Malouetieae
Subfamily Apocynoideae
Tribe Mesechiteae
Subfamily Apocynoideae
Tribe Nerieae
Subfamily Apocynoideae
Tribe Wrightieae
Subfamily Asclepiadoideae
Tribe Asclepiadeae
- Asclepiadinae: Asclepias curassavica
- Asclepiadinae: Asclepias tuberosa
- Asclepiadinae: Gomphocarpus fruticosus
- Cynanchinae: Cynanchum grandidieri W/C
- Cynanchinae: Cynanchum marnierianum
- Cynanchinae: Cynanchum pachycladon
- Cynanchinae: Cynanchum sp.
- Cynanchinae: Cynanchum verrucosum
Subfamily Asclepiadoideae
Tribe Ceropegieae
- Stapelieae: Caralluma hesperidum
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia albisepta W/C
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia ampliata
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia ampliata
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia aristolochioides
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia cimiciodora
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia fusca
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia linearis subsp. woodii
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia x rothii
- Stapeliinae: Ceropegia stapeliiformis
- Stapeliinae: Edithcolea grandis
- Stapeliinae: Hoodia gordonii
- Stapeliinae: Huernia piersii
- Stapeliinae: Huernia plowesii
- Stapeliinae: Huernia thureti var. thureti
- Stapeliinae: Huernia zebrina
- Stapeliinae: Larryleachia cactiformis
- Stapeliinae: Stapelia flavopurpurea
- Stapeliinae: Stapelia gigantea
- Stapeliinae: Stapelia grandiflora
- Stapeliinae: Stapelianthus madagascariensis
Subfamily Asclepiadoideae
Tribe Fockeeae
Subfamily Asclepiadoideae
Tribe Marsdenieae
- Dischidia albiflora
- Dischidia bengalensis
- Dischidia litoralis
- Dischidia major
- Dischidia ovata
- Dischidia platyphylla
- Dischidia ruscifolia
- Hoya australis ssp. australis
- Hoya carnosa
- Hoya carnosa x serpens
- Hoya curtisii
- Hoya imbricata
- Hoya imbricata
- Hoya macgillivrayi
- Hoya macrophylla
- Hoya obovata
- Hoya pubicalyx
- Hoya retusa
- Marsdenia floribunda
Subfamily Periplocoideae
Tribe Cryptolepideae
Subfamily Periplocoideae
Tribe Periploceae
Subfamily Rauvolfioideae
Tribe Alyxieae
Subfamily Rauvolfioideae
Tribe Carisseae
Subfamily Rauvolfioideae
Tribe Plumerieae
Subfamily Rauvolfioideae
Tribe Tabernaemontaneae
- Tabernaemontaninae: Tabernaemontana divaricata
- Tabernaemontaninae: Tabernaemontana elegans
Subfamily Rauvolfioideae
Tribe Vinceae
- Catharanthus roseus
- Rauvolfia serpentina
- Ochrosiinae: Ochrosia elliptica
= indicates flowering in past 14 days
= images available for this accession
= map available for this accession
= accession added within past 90 days