Common milkweed is a member of the Asclepiadaceae milkweed family. Flowers are borne in nearly spherical clusters or umbels at the top of the plant, usually with 2-5 clusters per plant. Each flower is about 0.75 inches long and 0.4 inches wide. Flowers are greenish-pink to rosy pink to purplish-pink and very strongly and sweetly scented. Fruits pods are about 4 inches long. They are green initially, turning brown as they mature. They split open revealing 50-100 seeds each with a white, fluffy coma `parachute` that allows wind dispersal. Over 450 insects are known to feed on some portion of the plant. Numerous insects are attracted to the nectar-laden flowers and it is not at all uncommon to see flies, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and butterflies on the flowers at the same time. Milkweeds contain various levels of cardiac glycoside compounds which render the plants toxic to most insects and animals. Asclepias is the only plant family that serves as the host plant for monarch butterfly egg laying. The monarch larvae, the hatchling caterpillars, feed exclusively on milkweed leaves. Without milkweed, there can be no monarch butterflies.
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