Milkweed Plant Southern California. It is native to california and northern baja california from the east bay region southward and the foothills of the sierras. Narrow leaf milkweed sometimes called mexican whorled milkweed is a california native flower that is a preferred food source for monarch butterflies.
Data is arriving for the 2014 monarch count. The large pointed banana like leaves are arranged opposite on the stalk like stem. This flowering plant is a hairy erect perennial that grows to about 4 feet tall.
It is native to california and northern baja california from the east bay region southward and the foothills of the sierras.
Monarchs eat this plant and lay eggs on it making it an ideal plant to put in your butterfly garden. In southern california gardeners have milkweed choices when outdoor plant shopping for decades the most common milkweed species in our gardens has been a central american species sometimes called tropical milkweed or more correctly asclepias currassivica it is a magnet for monarchs and even a single plant in a garden will soon display a few colorful caterpillars dining on its leaves. This flowering perennial blooms in clusters of lavender tinted flowers. See the 2014 county by county monarch population here i have reviewed the data and it appears as though there are more 2014 2015 overwintering monarchs in california this winter than there have been in the last 11 years.