|
History & Highlights Endangered Species Guidance Documents Chicago Illinois Field Office |
Mead's Milkweed (Asclepias meadii)
This long-lived plant once occurred in tallgrass prairies across a wide area of the eastern great plains and midwestern United States. Habitat destruction, haying, and grazing effects have caused numbers to dwindle in some populations, and other populations have been completely lost. It was listed as threatened in 1988.
Historical Records for this Species in Northeast Illinois are available from Cook and DuPage counties.
The Chicago Illinois Field Office is the lead office for coordinating the Service's range-wide efforts to recover this species. In addition to arranging meetings of the Mead's Milkweed Recovery Team, we network and consult with other experts on this species in the midwest.
In the Chicago area, we consult with local land managers, species experts, and others with an interest in managing or recovering this species. We have provided funding to Morton Arboretum to conduct studies of the biology and life history of the Mead's Milkweed, as well as introduction and restoration projects.
Mead’s milkweed (Asclepias meadii): Listed as threatened in 1988.
Complete regulatory profile as provided on the Service's Endangered Species website.
Final determination listing the species, published in The Federal Register (53 FR 33992-33996), September 1, 1988.
Mead's milkweed Recovery Plan, 2003 (1.2mb pdf)
USFWS Mead's milkweed Fact Sheet (html version), Fact sheet (pdf version)
