Tropical Milkweed
Asclepias curassavicaAlso called Mexican Butterfly Weed
Tropical Milkweed is a perennial from the Village of the Hills planting guide that grows 3–4 ft tall and 1–2 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water. Deer rarely browse it.
Toxic — pets, livestock. Cardiac glycosides. Also disrupts monarch migration and concentrates OE parasite — Texas native plant groups campaign against planting it.
Will it grow in your yard?
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From our guide
Village of the HillsUpright stems with orange-and-yellow flower clusters over a very long season.
Why it works here
Monarch larval host that blooms when native milkweeds have gone dormant, and it is the one milkweed reliably available in nurseries.
Watch out
Cut it to the ground each fall. Left standing through winter it harbors a monarch parasite and disrupts migration timing. Not native.
The facts
5 sources- Type
- Perennial
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
- Water
- Low
- Height
- 3–4 ft
- Spread
- 1–2 ft
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Deer
- High — deer rarely browse it. Milky sap is toxic; deer avoid it.
Where it grows
55 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.