Hairy Climbing Milkweed
Funastrum hirtellum
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Observed at Joshua Tree National Monument where the Colorado Desert, a section of the Sonoran Desert, merges into the Mojave Desert. April 2010.
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VINE: Rambling vine with slender, wiry stems supported by trees or shrubs.
Milky sap that can cause skin irritation rapidly exudes
from any broken stem.
FLOWERS: Distinctive, star-shaped flowers are arranged in umbels and are
white with tinges of green and pink. The stems and calyces are noticeably hairy.
FRUIT: Turgid, slightly curved pods are packed with comose (hairy)
seeds.
LEAVES: Elongate, to linear leaves are borne in pairs along
the stems (opposite) and are densely hairy.
RANGE: Along washes and fence rows in the western portions of the Sonoran
Desert of Arizona and hence into the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada.
Milkweed vines in the Sonoran Desert have undergone many name changes, varietal names, species splits and combinations. They all seem closely related varying in leaf shape and the degree of hirsuteness.