Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Asclepias curassavica
mata caballo, bailarina, mata caballo , mal casada, algodoncillo, bloodflower, wild ipecacuanha, butterfly weed
It is used as animal food, a poison, a medicine and invertebrate food, has environmental uses and for food (POWO, 2022).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Gentianales
Family
Apocynaceae
Genus
Asclepias
Species
curassavica
Taxon category: Accepted
Family Asclepiadaceae is now Apocynaceae (updated 2021, Patricia Jaramillo & María del Mar Trigo).
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1906
Mode of introduction: Intentional
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture
Introduced status: Naturalized
Invasive status: Potentially Invasive
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Its native range is Mexico to Tropical America (POWO, 2022).
- Chavez, J. (1993) Diagnostico de la Agricultura y la Ganader¡a en la Provincia de Galapagos. Tesis.
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- Guézou, A. Trueman, M., Buddenhagen, E., Chamorro, S., Guerrero, A.M., Pozo, P., Atkinson, R. (2010) An extensive Alien Plan Inventory from the Inhabited Areas of Galapagos Plos One/ www.plosone.org. Volume 5/ Issue 4/e10276
- Lawesson, J.E. (1987) Plantas exóticas en las Islas Galápagos, un resumen. Memorias. Taller sobre investigación Botánica y manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 17-23.
- Lawesson, J.E. (s.a.) Pers. obs. field notes, collections 1985-7.
- Quintana, M.C. (2010) Wild plants in the dry valleys around Quito-Ecuador. Publicaciones del Herbario QCA, PUCE. Quito-Ecuador, 266 pp.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Asclepias curassavica", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=192. Accessed 1 November 2026.