Image Series: "milkweed"


Source Photo:

This source photo is of a group of just-flowered "common milkweed" (Asclepias syriaca) plants found on Block Island, RI in the US northeast. The plant produces a white latex when cut which is toxic to animals and humans if consumed but is crucial to the diet of many animals, especially the monarch butterfly. It is considered invasive and has a rhizomatic root structure that allows it to propagate quickly.