Monarch Butterfly And Milkweed Plant. Monarch butterflies cannot survive without milkweed. The monarch s top 4 favorite milkweed species are bolded in the list below.
The winner is the asclepias incarnata common name. The slender needle like leaves of this monarch butterfly host plant don t look like many other milkweeds out there. The sap in the plants contain a toxin called cardiac glycoside.
It can also cause skin and irritation in humans.
Without it they cannot complete their life cycle and their populations decline. Other common names depending on region include milkweed common tiger wanderer and black veined brown. But in the last two decades the number of milkweed plants has plummeted. It may be the most familiar north american butterfly and is considered an iconic pollinator species.