Page 27 - A Field Guide to Fairfax County's Plants and Wildlife
P. 27
Flowering
HERBACEOUS Plants
Common Milkweed
(Asclepias syriaca)
Description
The single thick stem grows 1 to 2 meters
in height. From June through August it has
umbrella-like clusters of rose to purple
flowers. Leaves are opposite and oval in
shape. When a leaf or stem is broken a
white milky liquid is released. In
late summer, a seed pod forms and
bursts open releasing hundreds of Milkweed’s downy seeds are used as
silky seeds. Seeds are blown by the an alternative to feathers in pillows
wind. It reproduces by seeds and and mattresses.
rhizomes.
In addition to the Common Milkweed
Distribution and Habitat there are at least seven other
milkweeds in Fairfax County including
Milkweed is found in all five Butterfly, Swamp and Purple
physiographic provinces. It thrives in Milkweed. All are butterfly favorites.
sunny open areas.
Role in Food Web
Monarchs and other butterflies, various bees and
wasps, carpenter ants, White-tailed Deer and
Eastern Cottontail Rabbits feed on milkweed.
Milkweed is the host plant for Monarch
Butterflies and the sole food source for the
caterpillars. The caterpillars have adapted to
eat Common Milkweed without getting sick from the plant’s toxic chemicals.
These chemicals protect the caterpillars by making them taste bad to birds
and other would-be predators.
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HERBACEOUS Plants
Common Milkweed
(Asclepias syriaca)
Description
The single thick stem grows 1 to 2 meters
in height. From June through August it has
umbrella-like clusters of rose to purple
flowers. Leaves are opposite and oval in
shape. When a leaf or stem is broken a
white milky liquid is released. In
late summer, a seed pod forms and
bursts open releasing hundreds of Milkweed’s downy seeds are used as
silky seeds. Seeds are blown by the an alternative to feathers in pillows
wind. It reproduces by seeds and and mattresses.
rhizomes.
In addition to the Common Milkweed
Distribution and Habitat there are at least seven other
milkweeds in Fairfax County including
Milkweed is found in all five Butterfly, Swamp and Purple
physiographic provinces. It thrives in Milkweed. All are butterfly favorites.
sunny open areas.
Role in Food Web
Monarchs and other butterflies, various bees and
wasps, carpenter ants, White-tailed Deer and
Eastern Cottontail Rabbits feed on milkweed.
Milkweed is the host plant for Monarch
Butterflies and the sole food source for the
caterpillars. The caterpillars have adapted to
eat Common Milkweed without getting sick from the plant’s toxic chemicals.
These chemicals protect the caterpillars by making them taste bad to birds
and other would-be predators.
r 23 r
