The Butterfly Weed

This native perennial (Asclepias tuberosa) has an interesting lists of names attached to it: Indian paintbrush, pleurisy root, chigger flower and the more well-known butterfly weed. Found growing naturally as a wildflower in dry open fields, butterfly weed has been making its way into backyard gardens.

A member of the milkweed family, butterfly weed differs from its cousins by exuding a watery juice from the leaves and stems, not the more common milky sap. Its bright orange flowers, which are clustered at the top of hairy stems, are a beacon for attracting the monarch butterfly that alights to sip nectar from its fragrant blossoms. Later in the season, the plant produces narrow, hairy pods shaped like tiny spindles.

A few facts...

• Butterfly weed stores food and water in a large taproot (the main root of the plant which generally grows straight down). This allows it to survive during dry summers.
  
• Because it adapts to dry conditions, butterfly weed is more likely to die from too much water than not enough. Too much water causes its roots to rot.
  
• Butterfly weed is occasionally used by Monarchs as a caterpillar food plant, but is not preferred because it contains too little poison.

Today's photo is by WPC Ecologist Robert Coxe.

References: Chicago Botanic Garden and the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

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