Butterfly Weed

Butterfly weed is also called butterfly milkweed and pleurisy root.  It was considered a heal all plant by early settlers in the U.S.  The root was chewed by American Indians as a cure for pleurisy and other pulmonary diseases. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds are drawn to it's nectar.

Flower buds and shoots can be eaten if cooked, reportedly tasting like asparagus and peas respectively.  If not cooked, the plant is toxic to humans.  Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat the leaves, storing and passing on bitter tasting toxic compounds to the adult butterfly, rendering the butterflies distasteful to predators.