Found nearly throughout North Dakota, green milkweed occurs in southeastern Canada and from Connecticut to Montana south to Georgia and northeastern Mexico, at elevations up to 6,000 ft. Green milkweed is perennial from a vertical rootstock.
Stems are mostly solitary or in pairs, and are up to two feet tall.
Leaves are usually opposite, up to four inches long, and extremely variable in shape. Plants from dry sites tend to have long narrow leaves, whereas those from moist sites are nearly round. About 20-80 pale green flowers occur in clusters. These are about two inches in diameter and are found in the upper leaf axils. Milkweed flowers have a special mechanism to trap insect legs and cause pollen masses to be pulled from the plant.