Common Milkweed
Aselepias syriacaCommon Milkweed is a member of the Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae) and is found in old fields roadsides and waste places from Southern Canada to Georgia and west to Kansas and Iowa. The flowers are small, pink to purplish in color, and clustered into a large ball. The plant itself grows to between 2 and 6 feet tall. The leaves are large, up to 10 inches long, light green with gray down underneath. When bruised they exude a milky juice.
This plant is the sole source of food for the larvae of the Monarch Butterfly. One interesting side note. The plant contains a cardiac glyoside that is akin to digitalis, when absorbed by the Monarch Butterfly larvae it makes the larvae and the butterfly toxic to birds and other predators.
