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Because of this, it is most often suggested to grow milkweeds that are native to the geographical area they are planted in to prevent negative impacts on monarch butterflies. [25] [26] Monarch caterpillars do not favor butterfly weed (A. tuberosa), perhaps because the leaves of that milkweed species contain very little cardenolide. [27]
Like several other species of milkweed, A. asperula is a food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Along with being food for monarchs, the plants also contain toxic cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) that the monarchs retain, making them unpalatable and poisonous to predators.
Breeding monarchs prefer to lay eggs on A. incarnata. [20] The species is therefore often planted in butterfly gardens and "Monarch Waystations" to help sustain monarch butterfly populations. [21] However, A. incarnata is an early successional plant that usually grows at the margins of wetlands and in seasonally flooded areas. [22]
A. tuberosa is a larval food plant of the queen and monarch butterflies, as well as the dogbane tiger moth, milkweed tussock moth, and the unexpected cycnia. [3] [12] Because of its rough leaves and trichomes, it is not a preferred host plant of the monarch butterfly but caterpillars can be reared on it successfully.
It serves as a host plant for larvae of monarch, queen, and soldier butterflies (Danaus plexippus, Danaus gilippus, and Danaus eresimus, respectively). It also serves as a source of nectar for adult butterflies and insects. [8] Researchers have concluded that A. lanceolata provides a high-quality nectar resource for its pollinating helpers. [7]
Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. [2] [3] It is native to southern Canada and much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding the drier parts of the prairies. [4]
Asclepius (/ æ s ˈ k l iː p i ə s /; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκληπιός Asklēpiós [asklɛːpiós]; Latin: Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis , or Arsinoe , or of Apollo alone.
A. cinerea leaves. Asclepias cinerea is a perennial herb that is grass-like in appearance with a thin, smooth stem that reaches 2 ft (0.61 m) in height. Leaves are 2 to 4 in (51 to 102 mm) long, linear, narrow, glabrous, and oppositely arranged.