The population of Monarch butterflies has shrunk to record lows. One possible reason is agriculture. Herbicide resistant crops are expanding in the midwest, where most Milkweed is grown. Herbicides are used to kill unwanted plants. Milkweed is a weed and therefore unwanted.
Milkweed is important to the Monarch butterfly life cycle. It is the only food source (aka host plant) for the Monarch caterpillar so a decline in Milkweed means a decline in butterflies.
There are more than 100 different species of Milkweed. The plants in my atrium are Asclepias Curassavica, also known as Tropical Milkweed. They originated from a bag of seeds that I scattered in 2009. No one was more surprised than me to discover the seed pack included Milkweed.
Milkweed owes its familiar name to the milky substance that oozes from broken stems or leaves. That milky substance is bitter. And while not poisonous to the Monarch caterpillar it makes the caterpillar bitter to predators.
Tropical Milkweed is easy to grow. The problem is controlling its growth. Seeds are attached to floss parachutes that disburse with the slightest breeze. Before you know it Milkweed plants are growing all over the place.
There is an interesting story of Milkweed floss being used in WWII to stuff life jackets. As the story goes a defense contractor paid kids to fill an onion bag with pods. Two bags provided enough floss for one life vest. More than 1.5 billion pods were collected to fill 1.2 million life vests. Today it’s mixed with goose down to fill comforters and pillows.
But getting back to the problem at hand – the Monarch butterfly shortage. One seed/plant can make a difference. You can make a difference. Check your local nursery or order seeds on-line.
A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered — Ralph Waldo Emerson
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[…] egg is laid on the underside of a Milkweed leaf and hatches in about 5 days. The caterpillar’s black head emerges as it eats through […]
One man’s weed is another man’s flower and usually come about because he disturbed the ecosystem’s balance or introduced and outside influence. Weeds often replenish missing soil nutrients. One replaced, the weeds go away. Many “weeds” are also powerful and healing remedies. Weeds are in the eyes of the beholder. Go Weeds!