• Skip to main content

Central QLD Coast Landcare Network

  • Local Plants Database
  • Local Wildlife Database

SEARCH PLANT AND ANIMAL DATABASES

Red- head cotton bush

Asclepias curassavica, Fam. Apocynaceae


Erect perennial herb with copious milky sap, growing 1-1.5m. Stems green at the base and purplish toward the top.

Weed Category: Other invasive plants
Invasive plants that are not prohibited or restricted invasive plants, but are known to spread readily and cause negative impacts, within the region.
Weed: Yes
Form or habit: Herb
Family: Apocynaceae
Leaf: Simple Opposite
Opposite, 70-100 x about 12mm, dark green, tapering at both ends, growing mainly from the upper stems.
Flower conspicuous: Conspicuous
Flower colour:

Yellow, Red

Flower description: Bright red with yellow centres, borne in terminal umbels.
Fruit conspicuous: Conspicuous
Fruit colour:

Brown

Fruit: Dry
Fruit description: Narrow follicles tapered at each end and about 70 x 12mm. Seeds small, very light, tan to brown, 6-7mm long, with tufts of long, white silky hairs.
Habitat:
Distribution
Food source for:
Toxicity: Toxic or irritant to domestic pets
Origin: West Indies
Notes: Spread by: wind dispersed seed Invades/threats: Disturbed or unmanaged areas, uncultivated pastures and along fence lines. Notes: probably introduced as a garden ornamental in 1880’s, now common in coastal and sub-coastal areas. Poisonous to stock but rarely eaten.
Information sources: Mackay Regional Pest Management Group (2018) Weeds of the Mackay Whitsunday Region Second Edition.

Website by Kapow Interactive