Product Review

Whorled Milkweed has established itself across most of the United States as one of the most common varieties of milkweed. Its foliage is valuable to butterfly larvae, especially monarchs, since it blooms late in the season. Dry fields, rocky slopes, meadows, and prairies all provide a good home for this delicate looking but hardy plant. Its Latin name, "verticillata," means "whorled" and comes from the arrangement of its grass-like leaves around its stem. In 1753, eminent botanist Carl Linnaeus gave this plant its Latin genus name, Asclepias. Asclepias, the name of the legendary Greek representation of medicine and healing, is especially appropriate since this plant formerly had various medicinal uses. In spite of its highly toxic nature, Whorled Milkweed attracts flocks of butterflies; butterflies are immune to the plant's poison, and actually become rather poisonous themselves as protection from predators.