In the Community: What's In Bloom
Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
This somewhat coarse robust plant can grow up to 2 m high and has many unique properties that make it stand out in the RSM's native plant garden. The most notable is the white sticky sap contained in the stem and leaves that gives this group of plants their name, milkweed. The beautiful pink flowers (each about 1 cm long) bloom in July and appear in umbrella-shaped groups (5-7 cm across).
The flowers have a strong sweet fragrance which is said to have an intoxicating effect on insects, attracting them to feed on the nectar, a process which results in cross-pollination. The Monarch butterfly has a particularly interesting relationship with the Milkweed family of plants. It breeds only where milkweeds grow: in western Canada, the Showy Milkweed is the primary host plant for the Monarch. The leaves of the milkweed are the sole food of the larvae, or caterpillars, that emerge from the eggs. The bitter taste imparted by the toxic milkweed sap (which can cause severe vomiting if ingested) makes the conspicuously-coloured Monarch caterpillar and butterfly very distasteful to birds and other predators, so they leave them alone.
The seeds of the milkweed are also unique. They are born in oblong pods resembling a fish in shape. If the papery pod is opened, the fish resemblance of the material inside is even more pronounced as the flat round seeds and their filamentous appendages resemble the scales of a fish. When the seeds ripen and dry in the fall, the filamentous appendages form a little parachute for each seed so that it can be carried by the wind to a suitable location to germinate and grow. Milkweeds benefit from plenty of moisture and rich soil and in such cases can multiply quickly to form large clumps.
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