Hello Yellow Butterfly Flower – Asclepias tuberosa is native to Alabama and Florida. Prefers to grow in dry sandy places: pasture fence rows and sandhill areas. It flowers into the fall.
Swamp Milkweed – Asclepias incarnata is commonly named swamp milkweed, rose milkweed, swamp silkweed, and white Indian hemp. It is a perennial that is native in North America [including Alabama]. It prefers damp to wet soils. This plant is often sold as a cultivar for specific color blooms and may be labeled with “Soul Mate” other variations. From here.
Good info on the Swamp Milkweed is here. “As a tall herbaceous moisture-loving perennial, Swamp milkweed seeks sunny openings of swamps, marshes, bogs, fens, and open areas along stream banks and ditches. This robust and erect stemmed plant grows three to five feet high, and like its common milkweed cousin, exudes a milky juice when broken.”
“Swamp milkweed’s smooth narrow leaves are lance-shaped with sharp tips and occur in pairs. Sometimes the leaf’s edges turn inward and upward suggesting the prow of a ship.”
“The fragrant umbelled clusters of flowers range in color from soft mauve to pink to reddish-violet.”
Note: Tropical/Mexican Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is controversial among Monarch enthusiasts.
From the Alabama Plant Atlas
- Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) – Host Plant
- Western Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) – Host Plant
- White Milkweed (Asclepias variegata) – Host Plant
- Green Milkweed (Asclepias viridis.) – Host Plant
- Pinewoods Milkweed (Asclepias humistrata) – Host Plant
- Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) – Host and Nectar Plant
- Eastern Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) – Host and Nectar Plant
- Swamp Forest Milkweed/Aquatic Milkweed (Asclepias perennis) – Host Plant
- Tropical/Scarlet Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) – Host Plant
