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Photos © Kim Hosen Top - Merrima Farm WMA, Nokesville, VA; July 2009 Below left & center - Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge, VA; July 2009 Below right - Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area, Nokesville, VA; May 2008 Text by Rawlin Jefferson |
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Common Milkweed This conspicuous species bears large balls of pink to purplish flowers that have an attractive odor. The common milkweed can be found in a broad array of habitats from croplands, pastures, roadsides, ditches, to old fields and prairies. Flowers bloom during the spring and summer months. Due to the abundance of sunlight needed to grow, the common milkweed prefers medium to fine sandy, clayey, or rocky soils. Aphids will produce but can be easily removed or left as a food source for ladybugs. The common milkweed is a larval host to the monarch butterfly. |