Common milkweed - Asclepias syriaca - a perennial native that is the chosen forage of Monarch butterfly larvae.
There are a couple thousand species of this plant found throughout the world and thirteen of them to be found in Wisconsin.
The sap of this plant contains cardiac glycosides. If consumed you will manifest an elevated heart rate, hot flashes and generalized weakness. The Monarch caterpillars eats this stuff without consequence.
It does make the butterfly a toxic feast to predators.
Interesting defense mechanism.
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We always have a bumper crop over here in Taylor Co. and I have plots of it everywhere that I let grow. What has me excited is the bumper crop of butterflies this year.
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