Giant Milkweed. This plant is great for a butterfly garden as it is a host plant for the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. However late this fall there were several cats on the giant.
Calotropis Gigantea Large Milkweed Leaves For Caterpillars Butterfly Plants Monarch Butterfly Garden Milkweed Plant from www.pinterest.com
Giant milkweed is also known as bowstring hemp crown flower lechoso and swallow wort. Since ancient times giant milkweed has been used to treat a wide variety of health problems from minor ailments like toothache ear pain boils and blisters to more serious conditions like diabetes cholera snake bites and sexually transmitted diseases. This giant milkweed is another larval plant for monarch.
It is native to saudi arabia the middle east and india and thus prefers zones 10a 11.
I ran into this plant well not literally at the university of tennessee research center in jackson a few years ago. The giant milkweed is native to india malaysia indonesia and china. This plant is great for a butterfly garden as it is a host plant for the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. I questioned whether native butterflies would lay eggs on the giant milkweed and whether the caterpillars would feed on such a large import but the answer is yes on both counts.
