Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. It is in the genus Asclepias, the milkweeds. Common milkweed is a clonal perennial herb growing up to 8.5ÃÂ ft tall. Its ramets grow from rhizomes. Many insect species feed on common milkweed, and it is the host plant of the Monarch butterfly. Female monarchs frequently lay their eggs on small, tender shoots, and larvae favor such shoots as food. As monarch reproduction peaks in late summer when A. syriaca leaves are usually old and tough, cut back the plants in June - August to assure that they will produce new shoots at that time. Retain some mature plants that will later distribute their seeds and whose leaves will feed rhizomes that will produce next year`s shoots.
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