It could be syriaca or sullivantii. Sullivantii will have smooth, succulent leaves compared to rougher syriaca leaves. Sullivantii seed pods will be smooth and not warty like syriaca seed pods.

There has only been one record of sulivani in northern Mn. Curiously that sighting was less than ten miles away from here, and probably along the same rr track.

I went back to get more pics of the leaf bottoms and, naturally I can't find it again. And I marked it with red tape too.

I would really like to know if this is sullivantii or not. It would be

really special if it were.

A couple more pics. I can get more if needed.

You're gonna have seed-pods pretty soon.....

Left Asclepias sullivantii, right Asclepias syriaca. The underside of syriaca leaves are covered in short hairs. If you rub them it will feel wooly, like suede. The undersides of sullivantii leaves are completely smooth and hairless and will feel like leather or vinyl when rubbed. Sullivantii usually has more pronounced pink coloring in the veins. Common and Prairie milkweed can hybridize in the wild naturally, and they will also hybridize with Showy and Poke Milkweed. Their pollinia,( pollen sacks) are close in size and can be inserted by insects into other similar species. The hairs on the bottom of A. syriaca are hard to see, even with a magnifier, but they can be identified easier by touch. Even if you blow up this photo the hairs on the syriaca leaf will still not be clearly visuble.

I overlooked an important clue. Asclepias sullivantii has sessile leaves, so your milkweed is Asclepias syriaca. Also sullivantii leaves are more tapered while syriaca leaves are more oval.

This is a picture of Asclepias sullivantii and Asclepias syriaca, side by side in situ. Notice the clasping leaves on the sullivantii compared to syriaca. Also, the sullivantii leaves are tapered approaching a point, while the syriaca leaves are more oval shaped.

not that i want you to drive back again ... lol .. but did you look for or see any monarch caterpillars??? ... this is the plant i usually see them on in my area ... i dont see any in the pix ...

ken

They are growing in my backyard garden Ken. The whole backyard is garden beds. I have only seen 1 Monarch butterfly this year, and no caterpillars at all. My area was a dead zone for Monarchs for a long time and then in 2018 and 2019 I was swamped with caterpillars. Last year I may have seen a couple caterpillars and this year none so far. It's a shame because I have so many different milkweed species that aren't serving the higher purpose. The red Milkweed Beetles with black spots are eating the corners out of the Milkweed leaves. I haven't seen any Monarch caterpillars on any wild milkweeds either. Just a few years ago I was making an emergency trip to the nursery to buy 8 milkweeds, because everything I had had eaten.

Whenever I see the chewing red milkweed beetles, I grab 'em & toss 'em as far as I can, tho doubt that stops 'em much. Haven't seen any milkweed caterpillars yet, tho have seen a couple monarchs flitting in the fields.