Milkweed, Common

Milkweeds are important host plants for monarch butterflies, and they provide nectar to a wide range of butterflies, moths and bees. Native from the Dakotas, to Texas and mid to eastern Canada. The larva of the Monarch specializes on milkweeds. The eggs are laid on the milkweed plant, and the larvae will feed on the plant and mature into a chrysalis. Its populations are affected as milkweeds are eliminated from cropland with pesticides. Common Milkweed has pink flowers and grows 3–4’ tall from a rhizome. The plant's latex contains glycosides, making the leaves and seed pods toxic in large quantities to sheep and other large mammals, and potentially humans. The young shoots, young leaves, flower buds and immature fruits are all edible raw. Most modern foragers consider the bitterness and toxicity issue a myth. The plants have no bitterness when tasted raw, and can be cooked like asparagus, with no special processing. Both the plant fiber and the floss were used historically by Native Americans for cordage and textiles. Milkweed oil from the seeds can be easily made into sunscreen. Also known as Butterfly Flower, Silkweed, Silky Swallow-Wort and Virginia Silkweed. Tags: Color: Pink Purple, Season: Summer, Certification: Organic.

It is native to Southern Canada and the Midwest and Eastern U.S.