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Apocynaceae
Butterfly Weed
Asclepias tuberosa
Transformation, renewal, free spirit.
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Genus
- Asclepias
- Native to
- North America
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 30–90 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Sandy, sharply drained
- Water
- Low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 3–9
- Lifespan
- Very long-lived; deep taproot
Did you know
- Butterfly weed has the most electric orange flower color of any native North American wildflower — almost neon in full sun.
- It was named the 2017 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association.
- The deep taproot can plunge 3 feet (1 m) into the soil, making the plant essentially impossible to transplant once established but also extraordinarily drought-resistant.
- Unlike other milkweeds, it has clear sap rather than milky latex, but it still serves as a host plant for monarch caterpillars.
- Native Americans called it 'pleurisy root' and brewed the roots into a tea for respiratory and lung ailments.
Color meanings
Orange
Bright optimism and renewal