Description

Asclepias syriaca, Common Milkweed, Organically Grown Native Perennial Plugs, Native Wildflowers, Native Pollinator Support Plants

Attractive Flowers:
Average – Dry soil:
Average well drained soil:
Beneficial Insects:
Butterflies:
Clay Soil- High clay content, fine texture:
Deer Resistant:
Drought Tolerant:
Drought tolerant:
FACU – Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands:
Herbaceous plant:
High Wildlife Value:
Hummingbirds:
Loamy Soil- mostly silt, sand, some clay:
Native to Coastal Regions:
Native To Mountain Regions:
Native to Piedmont Regions:
Perennial:
Pollinator support:
Small Mammals:
Songbirds:
UPL- Almost never occur in wetlands:
Wildflower:
Full Sun:

Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. It is native to southern Canada and much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding the drier parts of the prairies.

The Common Milkweed is the plant that most people associate with the word “milkweed”. This is a tall and conspicuous species that sometimes forms large clones. The umbels bear large balls of pink to purplish flowers that have an attractive odor. This species is known to form hybrids with both A. exaltata (in the east) and A. speciosa (in the west). Follicles split open in the fall and early winter dispensing wind borne seeds. Among the milkweeds, this species is the best at colonizing in disturbed sites. Within its range it can be found in a broad array of habitats from croplands, to pastures, roadsides, ditches and old fields. It is surprisingly rare in prairies in the Midwest being found mostly in disturbed sites within these habitats.

Benefit
Use Food: According to the Field Guide to Medicinal Wild Plants or Edible Wild Plants, common milkweed is edible only under certain circumstances. Boiling can eliminate the bitter taste and toxicity of the sap, but this must be done very carefully to avoid the toxins. Eating milkweed is not recommended.
Use Other: Native Americans used this species as a source of fibers and during the Second World War children in the northern states were encouraged to collect the seed pods that were processed for the coma, or floss, which was used for flotation in life vests. Today the coma is harvested for use in pillows and comforters.
Warning: Poisonous parts include milky sap from leaves, stems. Toxic only in large quantities. Symptoms include vomiting, stupor, weakness, spasms by ingesting other species; need careful identification. Toxic Principle: Resinoid, cardiac glycoside in other species (Poisonous Plants of N.C. State).
Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Fragrant Flowers: yes
Attracts: Butterflies
Larval Host: Monarch
Poisonous: yes
Value to Beneficial Insects
Special Value to Native Bees
Special Value to Bumble Bees
Special Value to Honey Bees
Supports Conservation Biological Control

Asclepias syriaca, Common Milkweed, Organically Grown Native Perennial Plugs, Native Wildflowers, Native Pollinator Support Plants