Butterfly weed

From Gardenology.org - Plant Encyclopedia and Gardening Wiki
Revision as of 16:33, 22 December 2009 by Raffi (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search


Asclepias tuberosa.jpg


Plant Characteristics
Habit   herbaceous

Height: 3 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 3.
Width: 2 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 2.
Lifespan: perennial
Bloom: early spring, mid spring, late spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer
Cultivation
Exposure: sun
Water: dry
Features: flowers, butterflys
Flower features: orange
Scientific Names

Apocynaceae >

Asclepias >

tuberosa >


Common names
Butterfly Weed, Canada Root, Chigger Flower, Chiggerflower, Fluxroot, Indian Paintbrush, Indian Posy, Orange Milkweed, Orange Swallow-wort, Pleurisy Root, Silky Swallow-wort, Tuber Root, Yellow Milkweed, White-root, Windroot

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a species of milkweed native to eastern North America. It is a perennial plant growing to 0.6-2 m (1 -2 feet) tall, with clustered orange or yellow flowers from early summer to early fall. The leaves are spirally arranged, lanceolate, 5-12 cm long and 2-3 cm broad.

This plant favors dry, sand or gravel soil, but has also been reported on stream margins. It requires full sun.

The common name comes from the butterflies that are attracted to the plant by its color and its copious production of nectar. Butterfly weed is also the larval food plant of the Queen and Monarch butterflies. The butterfly weed grows to be 1-3 feet long.

The plant looks similar to the Lanceolate milkweed (Asclepias lanceolata), but is uniquely identified by the larger number of flowers, and the hairy stems that are not milky when broken. It is most commonly found in fields with dry soil.

Cultivation

Propagation

Butterfly weed is easily propagated by cuttings in water.

Pests and diseases

Species

Subspecies indicated:

  • Asclepias tuberosa interior, Central United States.
  • Asclepias tuberosa rolfsii (Rolfs Milkweed), Southeast United States.
  • Asclepias tuberosa tuberosa, Eastern United States.

Gallery

References

External links