Butterfly milkweed is so named because it attracts butterflies—queen (Danaus plexippus) and monarch butterflies (Danaus gilippus). They lay
eggs on the leaves, as a food source for the larvae when they hatch. In my opinion, though, butterfly milkweed
should have been named
for its color. Orange is a relatively rare flower color, and this orange is striking, practically fluorescent in its
intensity. Between the flowers and the butterflies they attract, these plants are popular with gardeners.
Plants: 12-39″ (30-100 cm) tall, with hairy stems
and spirally arranged leaves. Most milkweed stems and flowers produce a milky latex when cut, but the sap of
this species is clear.
Flowers: Brilliant orange or yellow-orange, shaped very much like those of other milkweeds,
in dense clusters 2-5″ (5-12 cm) in size atop the stem. Each flower is about ⅜″ (9.5 mm) in size, with
with a five-pointed star and five petals that are bent back (reflexed). Flowers appear from May to September.
Fruits: Seed pods are spindle-shaped, covered with fine hairs,
and 4-5″ (10-12 cm) long. They open to reveal many seeds, each equipped with its own silken parachute.
Edibility: Poisonous Roots and all parts of this plant
contain resinoids, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides that, in quantity, cause vomiting, stupor, weakness, and spasms.
(The name pleurisy root derives from its historical use by some North American Indians in treating pain and
inflammation of pleurisy. It was also sometimes used as an expectorant, or for the treatment of other lung ailments.)