# Bear Mountain Milkweed (Asclepias scaposa)

> A very low west Texas milkweed of gravelly scrub-oak openings, no taller than a hand span, carrying a single long-stalked umbel of rose-purple flowers above broad clasping leaves. It flowers in early spring and is gone by midsummer.

Source: https://milkweedusa.com/species/bear-mountain-milkweed/  
License: CC BY 4.0 (Milkweed USA)

## Summary

A very low west Texas milkweed of gravelly scrub-oak openings, no taller than a hand span, carrying a single long-stalked umbel of rose-purple flowers above broad clasping leaves. It flowers in early spring and is gone by midsummer.

## Key facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Asclepias scaposa Vail |
| Genus | Asclepias |
| Family | Apocynaceae |
| Common names | Bear Mountain Milkweed, Stalked Milkweed |
| Status | Native; rare or legally protected in part of its range |
| Height | 3 in–8 in |
| Spread | 6 in–1.2 ft |
| Flower color | rose, cream |
| Bloom period | March to June |
| Light | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry |
| USDA zones | 7-9 |
| Leaf arrangement | opposite |
| Leaf shape | ovate |
| Sap | Milky latex |
| Root system | Deep taproot, resents transplanting |
| Seed stratification | 30 days cold-moist |
| Monarch value (0-5) | 2 |
| Garden value (0-5) | 1 |
| Nectar value (0-5) | 2 |
| US states recorded | Texas |

## Identification

- Tiny, to about 20 cm tall. One of a small group of milkweeds that never get above ankle height.
- A long bare flower stalk rising well clear of the foliage, which is what the name scaposa refers to.
- Broad opposite stalkless leaves, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, with heart-shaped bases clasping a smooth waxy stem.
- Livid rose to purplish corolla with a cream gynostegium flushed rose or purple.
- Dry gravelly openings among scrub oak, on mountainsides and flats in the Trans-Pecos.

## Ecology

An early-spring flowerer in a region where most milkweeds wait for the summer monsoon, so it is available to the first monarchs moving north through west Texas. Little else about its ecology is documented.

## Growing

Not in cultivation and not commercially available.

## Cautions

A narrowly distributed species. Photograph and report rather than collect.

## Questions

**Does Bear Mountain milkweed grow in New Mexico?**

Almost certainly not. The USDA PLANTS database lists it for New Mexico, but Kew’s Plants of the World Online records it as having been reported there in error, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center calls the single New Mexico report putative. Every confirmed United States population is in west Texas.

## References



## Photographs

- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Pecos County, TX, USA (Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130616685
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Arteaga, Coah., México (Leticia Jiménez Hernández, CC BY-SA 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/311191265
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Pecos County, TX, USA (Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130616685
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Pecos County, TX, USA (Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130616685
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Arteaga, Coah., México (Leticia Jiménez Hernández, CC BY-SA 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/311191265
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Saltillo, MX-CA, MX (Leticia Jiménez Hernández, CC BY-SA 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112932465
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Saltillo, MX-CA, MX (Leticia Jiménez Hernández, CC BY-SA 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112932465
- Bear Mountain Milkweed photographed in Saltillo, MX-CA, MX (Leticia Jiménez Hernández, CC BY-SA 4.0): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112932465

## How to cite

Milkweed USA. (2026). Bear Mountain Milkweed (Asclepias scaposa). https://milkweedusa.com/species/bear-mountain-milkweed/