The surface of the leaf is hairy beneath and smooth above. The leaf stem is short and thick. Milkweed exudes a thick white sap from any cut or broken surface. It also appears that milkweed may send up stems intermittently through the growing season. This may result in stems being at different life stages throughout the summer.
Milkweed is common in fields, meadows, and along roadsides.
This species is found from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan, south to Georgia and Tennessee and west to Iowa and Kansas. Milkweed flowers from June to August. The flower actually consists of many flowers in a large cluster on a stalk. A flower stalk may originate from the tip of a branch or stem or at the junction of a leaf with the stem. The flowers are usually pollinated by insects because the pollen is lumped in waxy masses not conducive to wind fertilization.