Asclepias acida Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. ed. 1832, 2: 31. 1832; Sarcostemma brevistigma Wight & Arnott.

Stems to 2 m, twining, green or gray, glabrous. Cymes terminal or extra-axillary, 6-15-flowered, ca. 1 × 2 cm. Pedicel 3-5 mm, puberulent. Sepals ovate, ca. 1 mm, puberulent, margin translucent. Corolla white or yellowish; lobes ovate- oblong or oblong-lanceolate, ca. 3 × 1 mm, glabrous. Outer corona shallowly cupular, inner lobes obtuse, slightly shorter than or as long as anthers. Pollinia caudicles ± horizontal, retinaculum subelliptic. Stigma head shorter than anther appendages. Follicles lanceolate in outline, terete, ca. 15 × 1 cm. Seeds broadly ovate, ca. 3 × 2 mm; coma ca. 2 cm. Fl. Mar-Nov. 2n = 22.

All parts are used as medicine to induce lactation.

Seashore thickets. S Guangdong, Hainan [India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam]