Common milkweed

Found on prairies, roadsides, open areas, pastures and stream banks; used for fiber, food and medicine

Text and photos by L Heroux, FWG volunteer The monarch migration is truly one of the world's greatest natural wonders, yet it is threatened by habitat loss. . . The need for host plants for larvae and energy sources for adults applies to all monarch and butterfly populations around the world. — MonarchWatch (www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/)

When most people think of planting milkweed for monarch butterflies, they imagine common milkweed (A. syriaca) with its big, rounded leaves.

Want to help monarch butterflies? Be careful when selecting your milkweed. Not all plants that go by the common name of "milkweed" are the food that these butterflies need. Milkweed is both a food source and a host plant on which the monarch butterflies lay their eggs. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of the milkweed foliage.

The common milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca) is a rough, weedy plant, but it has fragrant flowers and attracts butterflies, especially the monarch.

The most common of the milkweeds in the Tallgrass Prairie

Monarchs need milkweed plants to survive! The female lays eggs on the leaves & larva eats the plants. Milkweed is a great nectar plant for other butterflies.

Common milkweed is a perennial, herbaceous plant that grows to heights of 2 to 6 feet on solitary stalks. Milkweed gets its name from the milky sap contained in its leaves and stems. Chemicals in this sap can be poisonous to animals. However, milkweed is an important food source for…

Common Milkweed Asclepias syriaca