About Giant Milkweed
Calotropis procera is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to Northern and Tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia and Indochina (mainland Southeast Asia). It typically reaches a height between 6 feet (1.8 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m), and rarely to as high as 15 feet (4.6 m), and grows in sunny to partly-shaded habitats such as disturbed and overgrazed lands, rangeland, roadsides, river flats and coastal dunes. Its green fruits contain a toxic milky sap that is extremely bitter and turns into a latex-like substance, which is resistant to soap. Common names for the plant include apple of Sodom, Sodom apple, roostertree, king's crown, small crownflower, giant milkweed, rubber bush, and rubber tree.
Description adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Calotropis procera
- Genus
- Calotropis
- Family
- ASCLEPIADACEAE
- Habit
- Shrub
- Distribution
- India, Afghanistan, Arabian peninsula to Tropical Africa
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Local Names
- Hindi
- आक Aak, मुदर Mudar, aak
- Nepali
- सेतो आँक Seto Aank, बाह्रमासे आँक Bahramaase Aank, आँक Aank
- Bengali
- ছোট আকন্দ
- Tamil
- vellai erukkan, vellai erukku, வெள்ளெருக்கு
- Telugu
- తెల్ల జిల్లేడు, తెల్లజిల్లేడు, శ్వేతార్క
- Kannada
- bili aekka, bili aekkada gida, ಅರ್ಕ
- Malayalam
- erikku, erukku, ചിറ്റെരിക്ക്
- Marathi
- mandara, rui, रुई
Asclepiadaceae
Milkweed Family
Giant Milkweed belongs to the Asclepiadaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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More in ASCLEPIADACEAE
- Garden Silk-Weed, Blood flower, Bastard ipecac, Curassavian swallow-wortAsclepias curassavica
- Giant Milk-Weed, Giant Swallow wort Madar Plant, Bowstring hemp, Crown Flower, Giant CalotropeCalotropis gigantea
- Dark Purple CarallumaCaralluma stalagmifera var. stalagmifera
- Anant'S CeropegiaCeropegia anantii
- Tender CeropegiaCeropegia attenuata
- Bulbous CeropegiaCeropegia bulbosa var. bulbosa