Knowledgebase
My broad leaf milkweed’s leaves have become narrow? #873301
Asked June 16, 2024, 11:16 AM EDT
I’ve been growing milkweed in my yard for years and recently had a plant pop up among my milkweeds that I didn’t recognize, so I let it get a bit bigger to make identification easier. However, after closer inspection, despite its leaves looking Completely different, one offshoot of the stem appears to be MY NORMAL MILKWEED??!? The other leaves are long, narrow, pointy, and have almost curled edges… at first I thought it was curly dock, or the internet thought it was primrose… it’s neither of those from what I can tell, but I am THOROUGHLY Confused as to what caused my milkweed to change so drastically, yet still have some “normal” looking parts too
Wayne County Michigan
Expert Response
Hi Emma,
A possibility to consider is that your plant has Milkweed Yellows. One of the symptoms is 'little leaf'. It can be passed from one plant to another by insects with piercing/sucking mouth parts such as leaf hoppers. It may have been infected last year, but the signs are much more noticeable this year, or this could be a new infection.
You can dig out that plant, bag it and place it in your trash to remove the disease from your yard. Monitor your milkweed plants for additional signs.
If you'd like to confirm that your plant has milkweed yellows, you can send a sample to the MSU Plant Diagnostics lab. For a small fee, they can test your plant material.
