General: Fringed Twinevine (Funastrum cynanchoides ssp. cynanchoides) is a vine with long, linear leaves and purplish, milkweed flowers and elongate seed pods.

Fringed Twinevine is an uncommon component of desert and upland vegetation communities. It can be found on flats, in and along washes in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. Range maps show this subspecies as occurring from Arizona to Texas, but the photos here were taken in Death Valley National Park, California.

Family: Milkweed (Asclepiadaceae)

Other Names: Funastrum cynanchoides var. cynanchoides, Funastrum cynanchoides, Sarcostemma cynanchoides ssp. cynanchoides, Sarcostemma cynanchoides var. cynanchoides

Plant Form: Vine

Height: Grows on other plants, but never climbs high.

Stems: Long and narrow, vine

Leaves: Opposite, elongate and narrow, with short hairs.

Flowers: Purplish with slight fringe of small hairs on the margins. Corolla tube with ring of tissue at base free from filament column appendages.

Seeds: Produces an elongate seedpod. Seeds with long hairs attached that facilitate drifting long distances on the wind.

Habitat: Dry soils on flats, in and along washes, and on bajadas into the lower mountains.

Elevation: To about 4,000 feet

Distribution: California to Texas.

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