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 photo is mine and taken from our place looking west toward the Dragoons. I call the photo, “Come to Poppa.”
Petey thinks it is just fantastic that poison ivy is part of the Bisbee streetscape. He’s a strange fellow. Poison ivy is a sumac....
The San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona “provides critical stopover habitat for millions of migrating birds each year and is home to 84 species...
