Funastrum crispum (Wavyleaf Twinevine)

Also known as Wavy-leaf Milkweed Vine.

Wavyleaf Twinevine is a wiry, twining perennial vine that threads itself through shrubs and rock outcrops rather than standing on its own. Its milky sap and slender leaves with distinctively wavy margins mark it as a milkweed relative, and in Texas it belongs to the arid western half of the state:  dry, rocky canyons, chaparral, and pinyon-juniper woodland.

Small umbels of red-green, cup-shaped flowers appear atop short hairy stalks from spring into summer, followed by long, slender green-to-brown seed pods that split to release wind-borne seeds trailing silky white hairs - the same dispersal trick used by its milkweed cousins. It asks for almost nothing: sun to part shade, sharp drainage, low water, and something to climb on.

AT A GLANCE

DISTRIBUTION MAPS

USDA MAP

BONAP MAP

Present in state

Present in county and native

Native to North America, but adventive & escaped in state

Not present in state

Present and rare, native in county

Previously present, now extinct

Questionable presence (cross-hatched, regardless of color)