(Butterfly Milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa found at photobucket, creative commons)
Butterfly Milkweed aka Butterfly Weed, Canada Root, Chigger Flower, Chigger flower, Fluxroot, Indian Paintbrush, Indian Posy, Orange Milkweed, Orange Swallow-wort, Pleurisy Root, Silky Swallow-wort, Tuber Root, Yellow Milkweed, White-root, Wind root has been in our area for a very long time. It's rarely seen but when so, it's a site.
You usually see it around old county roads and dirt ones. They aren't that much around anymore. There medicinal uses were for an expectorant which aided through infections in the upper respiratory area. It also aided through pregnancy in some areas.
One animal that loves the Butterfly Milkweed is the Milkweed Butterfly, it's a color similar to the tuberosa, painted as a monarch almost indecisively.
The picture shows a different butterfly which is a native swallowtail. They are more numerous than the other ones I am speaking about.
Yes, the butterfly milkweed is for sure one of my favorite prairie forbs, not only loved by butterlflies consequently.
ReplyDeleteI have recently planted many of them in a prairie planting in a town over here. I got the seeds of a selected form suitable for caly from The Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin. A lovely plant indeed!