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Native Subspecies of Antelope Horns

Texas Antelope Horns

Asclepias asperula subsp. capricornu (Woodson) Woodson

The antelope horns of the southern plains, and the plant most Texans mean by the name. It is the eastern of the two subspecies, on prairie and limestone rather than desert mountain.

How to tell it apart

Leaves are lanceolate and broader, the flower stalk is short, under about 7 cm, and the seed pods are covered in small warty bumps along most of their length. Crown segments are white with a reddish-purple back.

Compare with subsp. asperula. Everything else about the plant, including how to grow it and what it is worth to monarchs, is on the antelope horns page.

Where it grows

Low country, 50 to 1,200 m, across Texas and Oklahoma into Kansas and Nebraska. In Nebraska it is known from one site in Nuckolls County and is of conservation concern there.

Alaska: not recorded Maine: not recorded Vermont: not recorded New Hampshire: not recorded Washington: not recorded Idaho: not recorded Montana: not recorded North Dakota: not recorded Minnesota: not recorded Illinois: not recorded Wisconsin: not recorded Michigan: not recorded New York: not recorded Massachusetts: not recorded Rhode Island: not recorded Oregon: not recorded Nevada: not recorded Wyoming: not recorded South Dakota: not recorded Iowa: not recorded Indiana: not recorded Ohio: not recorded Pennsylvania: not recorded New Jersey: not recorded Connecticut: not recorded California: not recorded Utah: not recorded Colorado: not recorded Nebraska: recorded Missouri: not recorded Kentucky: not recorded West Virginia: not recorded Virginia: not recorded Maryland: not recorded Delaware: not recorded Arizona: not recorded New Mexico: not recorded Kansas: recorded Arkansas: not recorded Tennessee: not recorded North Carolina: not recorded South Carolina: not recorded District of Columbia: not recorded Texas: recorded Oklahoma: recorded Louisiana: not recorded Mississippi: not recorded Alabama: not recorded Georgia: not recorded Hawaii: not recorded Florida: not recorded
Recorded in 4 states. Shading is generalized to whole states.

Distribution follows the Flora of North America treatment, United States only. Antelope Horns as a whole is recorded in 11 states.

Flowering

Texas Antelope Horns blooms March to September, peaking in April and May. Plants reach 8 in–2 ft.

Other names

This plant has also been published as Asclepias capricornu, Asclepias asperula var. decumbens, Asclepiodora decumbens. Those names refer to the same taxon and you will meet them in older floras and in some databases.

References

The description, distribution and synonymy here follow Mark Fishbein’s treatment of Asclepias in Flora of North America vol. 14 (2023).

Cite this page

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APA Milkweed USA. (2026). Texas Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula subsp. capricornu). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/species/antelope-horns/capricornu/
MLA "Texas Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula subsp. capricornu)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/species/antelope-horns/capricornu/. Accessed DATE.
Chicago Milkweed USA. "Texas Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula subsp. capricornu)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/species/antelope-horns/capricornu/.
BibTeX @misc{milkweedusa_speciesantelopehornscapricor, title = {Texas Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula subsp. capricornu)}, author = {{Milkweed USA}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://milkweedusa.com/species/antelope-horns/capricornu/}, note = {Accessed DATE} }