butterfly milkweed

Asclepias tuberosa

Description:

The best way to talk about butterfly milkweed is to contrast it with the much more familiar common milkweed. Butterfly milkweed bares little resemblance to the common milkweed. It is shorter, seldom more than 24 inches tall. Its multi-stem form is bushy in appearance and its leaves are relatively small and slender. Flowers are bright orange grouped in small umbells that point upward rather than the globe shaped inflorescence of its common cousin. Asclepias tuberosa prefers sandy soils and is reasonably drought tolerant. Finally, where common milkweed spreads widely by sending up new stems from its rhizomes, butterfly milkweed remains compact in form.

Like other milkweed species, A. tuberosa is a host plant for monarch butterflies. Not only do they readily visit its flowers as a source of nectar and pollen, but monarchs lay their eggs on butterfly milkweed. When those eggs hatch, the caterpillars feed on milkweed leaves. Monarch butterflies are able to digest the toxic milkweed sap, which makes them just as unpalatable to predators as the milkweed plant itself. That toxicity from the milkweed is the monarch butterfly’s best defense.

If you have a sunny location with sandy soil, butterfly milkweed is a great choice as a indigenous to an area; not flora of the area in question, but introduced from another geographical region through human activity. Synonym: exotic. Introduced is not synonymous and should not be confused with the term &quot;invasive species.” [Source: USDA National Plant Materials Manual]</div>" href="https://conservationdigest.com/glossary/introduced/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>introduced from another environment or area. See &quot;native species.” [Source: USDA National Plant Materials Manual]</div>" href="https://conservationdigest.com/glossary/native-plant/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>native plant that will really help protect monarch butterflies and rebuild their populations.

Details:

butterfly milkweed

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References:

  1. USDA Plants Database – Asclepias tuberosa
  2. Wisflora Database – Asclepias tuberosa
  3. Wildflowers of the United States – Asclepias tuberosa

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