Gomphocarpus fruticosus seeds swan plant milkweed
LATIN NAME: Gomphocarpus fruticosus
COMMON NAME: Swan Plant
The swan plant swells its pale-green, balloon-like, softly bristly fruits, and the small, white and violet flowers open among the narrow leaves. The upright, soft-stemmed, evergreen or short-lived perennial shrub carries the narrow, lance-shaped, grey-green leaves and the clusters of the small, white, hooded flowers with the violet centres through the warm season, one of the curious, bright sights of the warm garden, drawing the bees, to be followed by the large, pale-green, balloon-like, softly bristly fruits. The plant is a fine, curious presence of the warm garden, with the milky sap best handled with the gloves, and it is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The swan plant is a curious subject of the plant science, and the balloon-like fruits keep showing up in the work on the milkweed shrubs. The way the large, pale-green, balloon-like, softly bristly fruits form from the small, hooded flowers has been examined closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the milkweed shrubs, the butterfly plants and the members of the dogbane family. The narrow leaves and the soft-stemmed habit have also made it a fine study shrub, and the swan plant is a regular subject of the work on the balloon-like fruits of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The swan plant is a fine, curious shrub of the warm garden and the study collection. The large, pale-green, balloon-like, softly bristly fruits swell through the warm season, one of the curious, bright sights of the warm garden, and the clusters of the small, white, hooded flowers with the violet centres open among the narrow leaves, drawing the bees. It is one of the fine choices for the warm garden, the butterfly patch and the study collection, and it has been written about in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the balloon-like fruits and the curious ways. It is a fine, curious shrub of the open, sunny, deep, moist, well-drained garden.
Give the young plants the deep, moist bed, and the balloon-like fruits will come in the first warm season.
To grow the swan plant from seed, sow the small, brown seeds just under the surface of the moist tray of fine, gritty soil, with a light press, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the deep, moist, well-drained ground, the balloon-like fruits will come in the first warm season.
Gomphocarpus fruticosus, syn. Asclepias fruticosa, also known as swan plant, milkweed or white cotton is a herbaceous, perennial, spindly shrub, often with watery or milky sap . Gomphocarpus fruticosus belongs to the family of Stapeliads and Asclepiads and is native to South Africa. It has ovoid fruits of a clear, pale green colour, covered with prickles and narrowing into a curved tip, and almost looks like a tiny swan, therefore the common name swan plant. Gomphocarpus fruticosus is a medicinal plant. Dried aboveground parts of the plant can be used to treat hay fever.