The genus Asclepias is in the Milkweed family Aclepiadaceae and there are about 30 species of Asclepias found in Arizona from low deserts to high mountains. The various species of milkweed found in Arizona and across North America are larval food for Monarch Butterflies and so we hear a lot about milkweeds and monarchs, but don’t forget all the other species of butterflies and local native insects like bees, wasps, beetles and moths that visit milkweed. So plant milkweeds for everyone in your very cool native plant garden. Milkweed, not just for Monarchs!
The photos are of Asclepias asperula
The name Drosophila melanogaster is fun to say in dramatic style… and I do. At our place we don’t remember this many fruit flies...
When I was little boy I thought the name yellow-bellied sapsucker was the funniest thing I’d ever heard and though I did know it...
Petey has a new wildflower book and likes it so much that he is probably reading it under the covers at night. Oh dear....